Albany had only one shot on goal last night against Syracuse. Unfortunately, it was on its own goal.

The Syracuse women’s soccer team held the Great Danes to zero shots in last night’s 4-0 SU win. Sophomore Emily Kowalczyk and Senior Jenelle Ferri combined for the shutout in goal. It was the easiest shutout they’ll ever record.

Ferri made the first appearance of her career. She came into the game after halftime with a 3-0 lead. Ferri touched the ball only twice, both on passes back to the goal. After walking on as a freshman, Ferri’s four years of hard work finally paid off.

‘I wasn’t really nervous because I’ve been practicing since my freshman year,’ Ferri said. ‘It was great just to get the opportunity to play. I’ve got a great team in front of me and we’re playing really well. It was nice to put all my practice and hard work out on the field.’

The team supported Ferri in her first appearance, constantly yelling encouragement to her.

‘She played great,’ captain Megan Huez said. ‘She communicates really well. She kept the backs organized back there.’

The coaching staff’s main concern for Ferri was a possible case of shaky nerves. But Ferri stayed calm as she kept the SU shutout intact.

‘Jenelle’s not really going to play a ton in games,’ goalkeeper coach Greg Tait said. ‘I wanted her to relax. If she’s too tight or she’s too nervous, that’s when things happen. I knew she could do it. It was not a problem. She just had to have fun out there.’

And she did, thanks to the defensive effort of the Orangewomen. While the offense bombarded Albany’s net, tallying a school-record 41 shots on goal, the defenders rarely saw a ball come their way.

Kowalczyk and Ferri both praised the defense, whose effort basically made the goalie position obsolete.

‘Our defense has played really well,’ Ferri said, ‘We played together. Everyone supported each other and our defense was strong.’

Said Kowalczyk: ‘Everybody was calm and stayed intense throughout the game. They stayed controlled.’

The coaching staff was impressed with SU’s defensive focus, especially since the defenders could have taken a virtually undisturbed nap.

‘These are some of the tougher games to play,’ Tait said. ‘Their attack wasn’t coming at us hard and it’s easy for our defense to get lulled asleep. It allows for mistakes to happen. For them to focus for 90 minutes was a real good thing to accomplish.’

But, when Albany did muster an attack, SU didn’t have much to worry about. The Great Danes played with only one forward, making it nearly impossible to generate offensive pressure. Albany did not make it to SU’s goal box all night.

The Orangewomen head to Seton Hall this Sunday to play the Pirates at 1 p.m.

‘They play a similar formation as we do,’ Tait said. ‘We’re going to be a mirror image of each other and it’s going to come down to who executes better.’

Said Kowalczyk: ‘We need to keep on the streak that we are going on. Take what we did against Virginia Tech (last game), take what we did this year and go with it.’

Published on September 25, 2003 at 12:00 pm