The Orange’s offensive woes continued as the team failed to score for the third consecutive contest, falling to No. 25 Louisville, 2-0, at Frazier Cardinal Park on Sunday.

Three weeks have passed since SU’s last victory, a win over Portland State on Sept. 10. In that span, the Orange has gone 0-5-2 and has been outscored 15-4 by its opponents.

‘It was certainly deflating for us,’ SU head coach Pat Farmer said. ‘We can’t buy a goal.’

The Orange has not been able to score in part because of an injury to captain Molly McManus. She suffered a leg injury against Colgate on Sept. 17 and has seen limited playing time since. The senior has played in all 13 of the team’s games but has spent significant time on the sidelines during those contests.

Farmer has experimented with different lineups all season, starting 17 different players for at least one game. In the past few games he has jumbled his lineup even more, moving Sarah VanSickle from defense to midfield against Dartmouth and briefly trying forward Chelsea Berry at defense.

‘We keep trying to find the magical combination of people to generate scoring opportunities,’ Farmer said.

While the front half of the field becomes more of a question mark each game, the defensive end is becoming the team’s strength. Though the Orange (1-9-3, 0-4-1 Big East) has not scored in three games, it has only allowed two goals in those games, both against Louisville (9-1-1, 4-1-0).

VanSickle, Samantha Hawn, Karrah Benson and Lauren Cappelli have settled into their roles as the starters and offer consistency and experience even though they are not upperclassmen. All four are sophomores who received significant playing time last year and continue to grow together as a unit.

‘There’s some continuity now,’ Farmer said. ‘I think they are coming together a little bit.’

The other factor contributing to the defensive consistency is the improved play at goaltender. Eliza Bennett-Hattan has started the last three games for the Orange, allowing just two goals. The freshman had a 263:49 scoreless streak snapped when Louisville’s Jen Avila took advantage of a turnover deep in the Syracuse end and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead late in the first half.

Monique Gjini added an insurance goal when she blasted a shot from the top of the penalty box 10 minutes into the second half. The score gave Louisville an insurmountable, two-goal lead, but Farmer did not blame his goalie for either score.

‘She made a couple of very good saves,’ Farmer said. ‘Both the shots that beat her were tremendous shots.’

Bennett-Hattan’s recent success has helped her earn more playing time in Farmer’s three-goalie system. She passed junior Candice Hofmann for the most games played by starting her seventh contest. Bennett-Hattan has also allowed the fewest goals per game (1.20) and owns the highest save percentage (.826) on the team, giving SU a solid defensive presence behind its shaky offense.

‘She does very well up high and is a tremendous distributor,’ Farmer said. ‘She’s made a lot of progress in the last two weeks.’

Published on October 1, 2006 at 12:00 pm