ITHACA — For the optimist, Syracuse’s 2-1 victory last night over Cornell could be considered a silver lining on an otherwise mediocre season.

The win allowed SU to complete a 4-0-2 record in the New York State region.

‘It’s definitely feels good,’ Syracuse forward Guido Cristofori said. ‘In the preseason, it was one of our goals. We haven’t reached all our goals, but it feels good to at least get one.’

Syracuse head coach Dean Foti was concerned about how to motivate his team after SU’s 1-0 loss to Virginia Tech on Sunday. But after watching the Orangemen practice, Foti felt the possible undefeated regional record would work.

After last night’s game, Foti was impressed SU emerged without a regional loss this season.

‘It was important for us to run a clean table in the region,’ Foti said. ‘It’s nice to see that even though we had some ups and downs this year that we were still able to accomplish that.’

While Syracuse played regional teams Hartwick, Colgate, Army, Adelphi and national No. 1 St. John’s — who SU tied, 1-1 — Cornell head coach Bryan Scales stopped short of crediting the Orangemen.

‘The New York State region is probably the weakest region in the country,’ Scales said. ‘(Going undefeated) is still difficult to do, and there are some dirty fights in the region, but I wouldn’t say they impressed me.’

Syracuse’s achievement becomes an uninspiring consolation prize. The Orangemen had hoped to make the Big East tournament, but likely won’t. Syracuse came into the game No. 4 in the region, and the top two teams usually make the NCAA Tournament.

While teams who fail to make the Big East tournament can still qualify for NCAA tournament, that possibility appears nonexistent given the Orangemen’s 8-7-2 record overall, including losses to Big East doormats Providence and Villanova.

The undefeated regional record could be the only positive SU can cling to from the season.

‘It was very important to us to remain unbeaten in the region,’ Syracuse midfielder Ilias Calaitzidis said. ‘Obviously, we’re hoping for an NCAA bid, but this is still something we could be proud of.’

But for Calaitzidis, the record does not make up for an otherwise disappointing season.

‘It’s unfortunate what has happened to us this season,’ Calaitzidis said. ‘Our talent is much better than what our record says. If this is what we need to keep our heads up, then this is what we’ll use to keep our heads up.

“But I’m not sure it matters in the grand scheme of things.’

Published on October 30, 2002 at 12:00 pm