Through the recent three-game skid and even through some of the rare lapses, the Syracuse field hockey team has sharpened its edge.

The Orange didn’t coin the recent defeats to No. 7 Connecticut and No. 8 American as moral victories as some might. But they were. After displaying a lackadaisical effort in its intensity, passing and team-first mindset the week before, the SU coaching staff saw a change in attitude and performance during the weekend games.

SU hopes to carry the momentum into tonight’s game against Colgate at 7 at Coyne Field. It’s the Orange’s final home and regular season contest before the Big East tournament gets under way Nov. 5.

‘I thought we’ve played with more heart than in the last three weeks,’ SU head coach Kathleen Parker said. ‘We played like we wanted to be out there and we wanted to win. I thought we did a fairly decent job of shutting them down. I was proud of the effort that we put out. That’s the way we have to play the remainder of our games.’

The Red Raiders (10-6) hope to take that momentum right from the get-go. Colgate coach Cathy Foto saw that it worked when Dartmouth scored less than a minute into its game against SU a week ago. Dartmouth never looked back. The first few minutes for Colgate will be just as important, if not more, than the rest of the game.

‘You start games with exceptional goal making and that will make it interesting,’ Foto said. ‘Syracuse is a little more polished than we are, but the hustle and desire will help us overcome any deficiencies that we may have. I don’t think you can just have one or two shots at (Betsy Wagner) to be successful. You have to fire a number of shots in one straight flurry to throw her off a little bit. She’s awesome at one-time shots. It’s really important trying to move her.’

Take the Eagles game, for example. AU outshot SU, 23-7, while also drawing 14 penalty corners. The Orange (10-8) rarely peeled with its effective and aggressive zone coverage. But there were rare moments when AU sliced through the Orange defenders and Wagner with its late goal in the second half and the game-winning score in overtime.

Colgate also has a strong man-to-man defense of its own. Before its game against Syracuse, American faced a similar challenge against the Red Raiders when it launched 51 shots against goalie Jacque DeMarco. Of the 51 thrown at the cage, 33 of the shots were batted away.

The Red Raiders also scored in the opening minute thanks to Sarah McCarthy’s goal off a penalty corner. American’s Denise Infante answered back in the 24th minute to tie the game, though. The Eagles took the lead three minutes later and eventually prevailed, 5-2.

‘Syracuse is a much better team,’ Infante said. ‘(DeMarco) was good, but the defensive players were slow. They had trouble following the ball.’

With SU’s improved ability to create more offensive opportunities with its defense, the Orange hopes to exploit that potential weakness. But the SU coaching staff thinks more can be done with better ball handling and cleaner transitions.

‘Getting it in the circle isn’t enough,’ SU assistant coach Mary McCracken said. ‘We have to maintain better control of the ball inside our offensive 25 and convert those opportunities into goals.’

Published on October 26, 2004 at 12:00 pm