Phil Wheddon might not have been there for his Syracuse women’s soccer team’s 3-1, season-opening win over Albany Friday. But that didn’t mean the first-year head coach couldn’t provide a bit of motivation.

Several of the Orange players gathered Thursday morning to watch the U.S. women’s team – on which Wheddon is the goalkeepers coach – defeat Brazil, 1-0, in extra time of the gold-medal game.

As the celebration ensued on the field, sophomore forward Megan Bellingham said some of the players decided to call Wheddon.

‘We were like ‘Oh, we’ll leave him a voicemail,” Bellingham said. ‘And all of a sudden, he picks up and our whole team just started screaming ‘Congratulations!”

That, combined with Wheddon’s frequent emails with advice and encouragement, seemed to provide some inspiration to the Orange, which tallied twice in the opening four minutes and cruised the rest of the way.

Bellingham opened the scoring 88 seconds into the contest, and a pair of freshmen, midfielder Casey Ramirez and forward Amanda Morris, accounted for SU’s other two scores.

Save for a hiccup in the sixth minute, when Albany’s Ashley Tirabassi headed home off a corner kick, Syracuse kept possession and controlled most of the contest. The Orange outshot the Great Danes, 16-6, including a 12-1 advantage in the first half.

‘It’s helpful to have an early lead, but sometimes you can have a mental letdown and forget to do the little things that got you the lead in the first place,’ said SU assistant coach Robyn Pepicelli, who has coached the team in Wheddon’s absence this summer. ‘I’m proud of how well the team handled its emotions.’

The early burst was a welcome sign for an SU offense that scuffled for long stretches of last year. The Orange scored just 19 goals in 19 games in 2007, and scored three goals in a match once (on Oct. 17 in a 3-2 win over DePaul).

Enter Wheddon, a native of England, who shortly after his appointment revealed his philosophy of a possession-based, more creative brand of soccer. That included a switch to a 4-5-1 formation, which is more conducive to keeping possession of the ball in midfield.

‘He stresses play for each other,’ Bellingham said. ‘Play like we know how to play.’

It didn’t take long for Syracuse to showcase that improved attack. A minute-and-a-half in, Bellingham fended off a defender in the box and poked one past Albany keeper Cate Crenson.

‘It was great to get one in early,’ Bellingham said. ‘We were talking about, saying how important it would be to get one early. We were able to do that, able to settle down and play our game.’

It must have settled down the SU freshmen, too. In the fourth minute, Ramirez smashed one into the left corner to make it 2-0. Then, in the 35th minute, the substitute Morris took a throw in, breezed past a sleeping Albany defense and side-footed the ball in to make it 3-1.

‘I was a little nervous, but I got that out during the scrimmage,’ Ramirez said. ‘We were ready to go and just excited to play our first game. It was just great for us.’

Three goals would be plenty for Syracuse, which slowed down the pace in the second half and bled down the clock en route to a satisfying win.

Then again, the early season has never been the problem for Syracuse. The Orange has gone 11-26-7 in Big East play the previous four seasons under head coach Pat Farmer, who resigned in January.

That trend will be Wheddon’s job to correct when he gets back. Some more early goals would certainly make life a lot easier.

‘We got to control the ball a lot more,’ Ramirez said. ‘Everybody kept their composure. They got one back, but we never let it get to us.’

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on August 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm