PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Sheridan Street’s shot on a wide open goal from the left endline flew into the side of the net. Jackie Firenze’s rip from just outside the 18 was called no good because of an offsides whistle. Alex Lamontagne had an open lane with only Providence goalkeeper Kristyn Shea in front of her when she tripped and fell down.

And with just a minute left and Syracuse threatening one last time, Syracuse head coach Phil Wheddon inquired about a ball that was called a Providence throw-in instead of a Syracuse corner kick, a scene that captured the missed opportunities the Orange dealt with all afternoon.

“I’m happy that we’re creating those opportunities,” Wheddon said. “It’s one of those disappointing games where you dominate and you’re the better team, really, on the ball but you don’t come out with the result.”

Despite generating 15 shots, five corner kicks and a host of other scoring chances in front of the goal, Syracuse (1-1), was unable to score Sunday in a 1-0 loss at Providence (2-0).

Syracuse maintained possession of the ball for extended periods in the first half, moving it seamlessly from the wings, to the back line and up again to the front line. But when the ball landed in front of Orange jerseys inside the box, Syracuse was unable to finish the job.

“(It’s frustrating), especially when we outshoot them fifteen to (six) and we keep plugging away, keep plugging away and then just not coming off,” forward Alexis Koval said. “Mostly it has to do with our service and we just need to clean up technically.”

Wheddon said his team has been good in the pre-season at playing balls on the ground behind the opposing defense.

On Sunday, Syracuse gravitated more toward long balls in the air, a style of play that Wheddon said doesn’t particularly suit the Orange’s shorter roster and something Koval said might have been influenced by the turf field and the speed with which the ball moves off the foot.

“Our style of play is drive the ball on the ground, and we just didn’t have that today, which was part of our problem,” Koval said.

In the 58th minute, the Orange defense committed its first costly gaffe, turning the ball over at midfield which resulted in a Providence breakaway.

Providence forward Catherine Zimmerman chipped the ball high over the head of charging SU goalie Courtney Brosnan that bounced softly into the net, giving the Friars a 1-0 lead that was all it needed.

“Just sort of a little miscommunication, organization issue,” Brosnan said. “It’s early in the season, hopefully we can fix that pretty early on.”

Brosnan stood pointing at her defense standing in front of her before hunching over with her hands on her knees. It was a goal Wheddon called opportunistic in a game that Brosnan played solid in.

“She did everything that we asked her to do, she had a good game,” Wheddon said.

Following the goal, Syracuse’s forwards continued to apply pressure on the Providence back line, which Wheddon said wasn’t as skilled at playing on the ball.

But despite the open looks generated in front of the net, Syracuse couldn’t provide the necessary offense, coming up empty time and time again.

“At times it was very very good,” Wheddon, speaking of the pressure, said. “We forced turnovers, we forced them to kick the ball out of bounds…But we do that in order to score goals, and we just didn’t have the quality today in and around the goal area.”

Published on August 23, 2015 at 5:42 pm

Contact Matt: mralex01@syr.edu