If the Syracuse men’s soccer team thought it had turned a corner last week, it slammed on the brakes last night.

All the poise, concentration and ability Syracuse showed while tying St. John’s and beating Rutgers last week disappeared as No. 14 Boston College beat SU, 3-1, at Syracuse Soccer Stadium.

With the loss, Syracuse remains tied with Rutgers for seventh place in the Big East, one point ahead of Providence and Georgetown. Because only the top eight teams qualify, the Orangemen face the possibility of missing their second straight conference tournament.

‘We were definitely missing the intensity tonight that we had against St. John’s,’ Syracuse forward Guido Cristofori said. ‘Something was missing. Even in our warmup, guys weren’t as hyped up as they typically are. This is definitely a letdown.’

‘That game against St. John’s was mentally and physically draining,’ Syracuse defender Kevin Boyle said. ‘Maybe that took a toll on us, but we should’ve been able to rebound from that.’

For the third consecutive game, SU (7-6-2, 3-4-1 Big East) went down early, this time 8:21 in, on Boston College (9-3, 6-2) forward John Krause’s first goal of the season. Krause’s shot floated over Orangemen goalkeeper Alim Karim’s head.

‘We’ve been trying to address (giving up the early goal),’ Syracuse head coach Dean Foti said. ‘We try and change what we do in warmups, have us focus a little more on the first 10 minutes of the game. It’s not something you could put your finger on. It just comes down to us having to be sharper at the beginning of the game.’

‘It seems like every time we get scored on early in the game, that’s what wakes us up and makes us play harder,’ Syracuse defender Ryan Hall said. ‘But we have to learn to come out and play hard without giving up that goal.’

Unlike against St. John’s and Rutgers, SU could not rally to earn at least a point against BC.

Syracuse forward Kirk Johnson’s goal at 16:12 — which placed him eighth on the SU career-scoring list with 67 points — tied the game at 1-1.

But 25 minutes later, Casey Schmidt, the Preseason Big East Offensive Player of the Year, scored his seventh goal of the season to give the Eagles the lead for good.

Eagle midfielder Adam Pfeifer’s goal with exactly 15 minutes remaining made the score, 3-1, after the Orangemen had shifted to an offensive scheme.

‘They have a lot of firepower,’ Syracuse captain Chris Aloisi said. ‘They found out how to break our (new, four-man defensive) formation. A lot of teams have tried to solve our new defense, and I thought they did a good job figuring it out.’

Although the Orangemen were disappointed with their mental approach, they seemed pleased with their play. SU notched seven shots on goal in the second half.

‘I thought we played alright,’ Foti said. ‘I know the guys are down because they knew how important the game was and how important it was to come out with a win. We had some chances to score, and we didn’t. That’s how the game goes.’

The loss is even more frustrating for SU after gaining conference-wide attention by entering last night’s game with a four-game unbeaten streak.

Now the Orangemen must start over again. The opportunity comes Sunday at Virginia Tech.

‘In the last few weeks, we’ve turned a lot of heads,’ said Cristofori, one of three SU seniors playing in his final home game. ‘If we hadn’t dropped those two games to Providence and Villanova, then the wins we got the last two weeks would’ve really gotten us somewhere. It’s frustrating because, once again, people may not be convinced we’re a good team.’

Published on October 23, 2002 at 12:00 pm