In the 14th minute against Virginia Tech, Syracuse’s Stephanie Skilton took a teammate’s pass, moved left and toward the net. From 18 yards out, she blasted at the goal. It hit off the post.

Would-be opportunities and near misses slipped out of SU’s grasp, plaguing the offense all game. The No. 18 Hokies (13-4, 4-4 Atlantic Coast) glided by the Orange (5-9-3, 2-6) 5-0, but SU showed offensive improvement despite being shut out for the fourth game in a row. Poor connecting passes in the attacking third and failure to test Virginia Tech’s goaltender marred SU’s offensive strides.

The Orange tallied eight shots and put six on net. It was the first time SU put more than five shots on goal in three games.

The waterlogged surface did SU no favors, slowing some passes and accelerating others.

As SU pushed the ball upfield, a pass to Jessica Vigna, a midfielder, slid out of bounds. Defender Maddie Iozzi screamed “It’s got to be on the ground,” and forward Alex Lamontagne instructed “smart passes.”

“(Connecting passes) is definitely what we need to work on… I think that’s the one thing that’s killing us in the final third,” junior forward Maya Pitts.

When the Orange did connect passes, it hardly tested VT goalkeeper Kaylyn Smith. In the 85th minute, Skilton sent a through ball to Alexis Koval down the right side of the field, but Koval kicked it straight to Smith.

In the first half, SU made a habit out of taking long shots that never made their way to the keeper.

“We made their goalkeeper look good at times, we didn’t really test her that much,” SU head coach Phil Wheddon said.

While SU never finished a scoring chance, the Orange finally created opportunities for itself.

Early in the second half, Erin Simon, a junior defender, crossed a ball to the feet of Sheridan Street. She played the ball too far right, losing control of her touch and never getting a shot off.

Just more than a minute later, Pitts and Simon smacked blistering shots off of defenders, ending Orange scoring chances.

In the second half, freshman Eva Gordon dribbled to her right and into the box, searching for her shot. Instead, she dribbled into a host of Virginia Tech defenders, turning a promising opportunity into just another missed scoring chance. Wheddon wasn’t disappointed with her decision to keep the ball, but wished her touch was better.

“I was hoping that she would take a left-footed service, take the ball to the end line and cross it left footed or at least get a shot off,” Wheddon said.

SU made offensive progress, but getting chances was only a small step.

“It’s hard to finish in soccer and that happens where a team plays really well but the other team just gets chances and finishes them,” said Vigna. “It sucks but it wasn’t one of our worst games by far.”

Published on October 24, 2014 at 1:34 am

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati