On its first few offensive possessions against Virginia on Saturday, the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team patiently cycled the ball, hoping to continue a balanced team approach. But it wasn’t until SU midfielder Monica Joines took on a Cavalier defender one-on-one nearly eight minutes into the game that SU posted its first shot.

The offensive rhythm SU displayed in its first two games disappeared until late in its 15-7 loss to Virginia at the Carrier Dome.

In SU’s wins over Albany and Binghamton to start the season, the Orange used a combination of one-on-one plays and off-ball passing to run up the score. Since the Cavaliers eliminated the latter, the Orange offense boiled down to Joines creating on her own.

‘We needed to speed up our attack and move the ball around faster,’ said SU head coach Lisa Miller. ‘Virginia has good quality defenders, and they are going to make you work harder to turn the corner.’

Joines and SU’s other emerging one-on-one player, sophomore midfielder Gaddy Fortune, each netted two goals apiece in scoring the Orange’s first four goals of the game.

Attack Melody Agnew, who led SU in points entering the game, did not a record a goal or an assist against UVA. The bond she developed with fellow attack Caitlyn Dragon did not surface until SU trailed, 13-4. The two players the Orange use primarily in off-the-ball plays struggled to connect.

Agnew was denied twice in the second half on improbable saves by Cavalier goalie Ginger Miles, the first on a partial breakaway and the second on a back-door pass from Dragon. The senior scored two goals in a strong second half.

‘We needed (Dragon and Agnew) both to do that at the beginning of the game instead of sort of feeling their way out,’ Miller said. ‘We need them both to say, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ and have the confidence to do it.

‘You don’t want to be a comeback team against Virginia. It’s a sketchy proposition.’

Not until defensive midfielder Ashley Pike sped downfield on a fast break and fed offensive midfielder Jill DePetris for SU’s sixth goal did the Orange tally an assisted goal.

Even so, those two probably won’t be frequent contributors to the Orange offense this season. When Dragon scored off a feed from Joines, SU finally displayed a glimpse of its full potential.

While going to a one-on-one game isn’t a bad decision, relying on it exclusively, as SU did for much of the game, proved problematic. Both of Joines’ and Fortune’s goals came after impressive solo raids into the heart of UVA’s defense, but they were stopped most of the time.

‘We had a lot of opportunities that we weren’t able to capitalize on,’ Joines said. ‘We didn’t make them pay for their mistakes as often as we should have.’

For comparison’s sake, nine of UVA’s 15 goals were assisted. SU defensive midfielder Melissa Pearsall turned in a solid performance in holding UVA attack Amy Appelt to three goals. Known more for her one-on-one scoring, it was the 2004 Tewaaraton Trophy winner’s passing that burned the Orange.

Part of the problem for the Orange offense was it didn’t possess the ball enough to establish a rhythm.

‘Our turnovers are what killed us,’ Agnew said. ‘Our mistakes in the middle of the field ended up with them having the ball for a while.’

When SU did manage a shot, it was usually one and done. On the other hand, UVA often earned second chances. UVA outshot SU, 38-19, in the game.

‘Our shots were pretty bad,’ Agnew said.

Miles turned in a solid performance in her first career start. The junior answered the only question mark for the defending national champions.

Conversely, a question mark emerged whether SU’s veteran attack can create chances consistently for 60 minutes against a top team.

‘We’ve done it before,’ Joines said of coming back in years past against UVA. ‘Today wasn’t the day.

‘Your senior year you’d like to sweep Virginia. Not have one loss.’

Published on March 6, 2005 at 12:00 pm