The passes were short. But they were all No. 18 Wake Forest needed to connect for scoring chances in a 1-0 victory on Thursday night at SU Soccer Stadium.

The Demon Deacons utilized only a few long kicks to get over midfield. In the first 20 minutes, they focused on the flanks. They’d go 11 passes upfield, then get stuffed short of the goal. Four passes, failure. Then an 11-pass stretch. No goals to show for.

Nearly every time, Wake Forest waited in their back end while Syracuse recovered balls back to midfield and turned it over. Madison Hammond passed to Kate Ravenna, then back to the goalkeeper Lindsay Preston from midfield. They switched sides, then shifted back the ball to the right sideline. Syracuse was spread out, then Vicky Krug hit Hannah Betfort from the right wing into the box.

The 14th pass of the possession produced the only goal of the game. Betfort shot left past Courtney Brosnan in the 31st minute. It was all the Demon Deacons (8-1-1, 2-0-0 Atlantic Coast) needed to secure a 1-0 victory over the Orange (5-3-1, 0-1-0).

SU coach Phil Wheddon spoke in a strained voice from a full 90 minutes of shouting adjustments. At halftime, noticing his team “playing frantically,” as Eva Gordon described, Wheddon pushed all of his players up the field, even the back end, and noticed a difference.

“We panicked when we had possession in the first half and resorted to the long ball,” Wheddon said. “When you’re playing against trees like they have at the back, winning balls in the air, you’re playing into their strengths.”

For Syracuse, the first half was filled with passes into the offensive end that went too far, smashing off side walls or rolling right back into Wake Forest’s possession. Hard-earned stops against ball movement returned to WF because the Orange couldn’t complete its own passes. Wheddon felt SU was “pinned.”

In the second half, Syracuse settled into its attack because, during halftime, Wheddon told his players to stay composed and short. Opportunities followed.

With 14 minutes remaining, Kate Hostage connected to Georgia Allen in the box. Allen’s shot bounced off a defender high over the net. Sydney Brackett’s ensuing corner kick tipped off Preston’s fingertips as Taylor Bennett ran toward her. Alana O’Neill recovered and kicked the ball into the mass of bodies. It hit the goalie on the ground.

Five minutes later, O’Neill charged into the box on the right side. She fired on Preston, but it bounced back off her to Taylor Bennett, who shot toward the goal. One inch left or right would have tied it. Her shot hit Preston on the ground, again.

“The ball hits the goalkeeper, it spills and then we somehow we hit the goalkeeper again with the ball,” Wheddon said. “Maybe she was just in the right place at the right time. It comes down to opportunities.

“You get fewer opportunities in the ACC to get shots off. You have to make them count.”

Wake Forest finished passes early, while Syracuse struggled to convert even with late adjustments. The Demon Deacons pressured the Orange with extra bodies in the offensive zone and they played one-on-one in the midfield. By the time SU figured it out, it was too late.

Wheddon called Syracuse’s first half of ACC play a “baptism by fire.” SU settled, then found its style of play late.

Still, Thursday night’s game came down to several chances on which SU could not convert.

“When we get that one chance,” Gordon said, “we have to capitalize on it.”

Published on September 21, 2017 at 11:33 pm

Contact Bobby: rpmannin@syr.edu