The ball flew from the foot of Georgetown defender Peter Schropp, to the head of forward Alex Muyl and floated past the outstretched of arm of Syracuse freshman goalie Hendrik Hilpert. Georgetown’s first goal put the Hoyas up 1-0, a lead that would hold throughout the scrimmage.

Despite losing 3-0, SU head coach Ian McIntyre said the scrimmage was “productive,” especially given SU has only practiced three days leading up to its first scrimmage. The Orange started four freshmen and played eight throughout the game.

“This is good,” McIntyre said, “this is good to get that work under our belt.”

Replacing Bono

With last year’s starting goalie Alex Bono now playing Major League Soccer, SU will replace him with a freshman. Senior goalie Pat Castle was on the sidelines with one arm in a sling, and McIntyre said the injury would be “long term.” Hilpert started the first half, and Austin Aviza finished the game.

Hilpert faced only two shots in the first half while Aviza faced six in the second. Aviza made the best save of the game. After he saved a shot on the left side, popping it up and behind him, he rushed to the left goal post and stepped in front of Georgetown midfielder Matthew Ledder’s header as the midfielder and Aviza collided while the ball popped over the net.

Georgetown scored its second goal when junior forward Brett Campbell kicked Aviza’s rebound over the goalkeeper, who had just made a diving stop. SU played sloppier in the second half, which contributed to Aviza seeing more work than Hilpert.

“They both did well, both made some important saves, Austin (made) a couple of good saves the second half,” McIntyre said. “It was a very productive session, and that’s what we wanted out of this.”

On the attack

SU took just six shots to Georgetown’s 12, managing to put only two on net. Junior forward Chris Nanco, Syracuse’s most experienced forward, subbed in with only 28:08 left in the game. He had yet to practice due to injury and McIntyre said he wasn’t quite in game shape, but the coaching staff wanted to get him minutes.

Many of SU’s attempts at the net ended in Georgetown goalie Mitchell Auer’s hands, as Syracuse sent several passes long and others wide of their targets. McIntyre liked the combination of midfielder Julian Buescher, and forwards Oyvind Alseth, Kenny Lassiter and Noah Rhynhart despite the lack of offensive production. One of SU’s best chances came on a shot by Buescher early in the first half that he sailed over the net.

“We are not a team right now and we have to build on that,” Buescher said. “We act like a team off the field, but on the field (there) was a communication problem and we have to keep working on that.”

Published on August 15, 2015 at 8:50 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati