Elliott Townsend does not remember much about his first home game as a member of the Syracuse men’s soccer team. But what the senior midfielder/forward does remember is the feeling he had when he first stepped out onto the field.

‘It was a big step up from high school,’ Townsend said. ‘The atmosphere is usually pretty energizing, and you’re not used to necessarily a big crowd and higher stakes placed on every game.’

This season, Syracuse has a total of 14 true freshmen on its roster, in addition to six redshirt freshmen. When Cornell visits the Orange on Saturday, these players will finally experience the situation Townsend described.

Among those freshmen is midfielder Mark Brode, who played a significant amount of minutes during Syracuse’s season-opening 3-2 loss at Binghamton. Though his first soccer game at the college level was on the road, Brode said he is ready to truly sink his teeth into the season.

The Orange (0-1) will make its 2009 home debut Saturday against Cornell at 7 p.m. at SU Soccer Stadium.

‘We’ve really been getting out there trying to get people to come to games,’ Brode said. ‘It should be a lot of people. I’m excited to start my career at Syracuse.’

To get the sour taste of defeat from the Binghamton game out of its mouth, Syracuse will have to conquer a foe that is both new and familiar at the same time. Jaro Zawislan, the head coach of Cornell’s men’s soccer team, was an assistant coach at Syracuse for the past seven seasons. Now he is on the opposing sideline, and Townsend said he is curious about how Saturday’s game will unfold.

‘I’m not really sure what to expect,’ Townsend said. ‘Considering Jaro has always been a goalie coach, I’m interested to see what his steps are as a head coach.’

As far as the desire to beat a former coach, Townsend said he is not using that notion to motivate himself, but admitted that it will add a new dimension to the game.

‘I don’t want to call it a grudge, but when you’re going up against one of your former coaches, there has to be a pride issue at stake,’ Townsend said. ‘There seems to be a lot more riding on it, whether people want to admit it or not.’

Brode got a taste of what it was like playing in front of a large, loud crowd against the Bearcats. He tallied the first point of his career when he set up forward Tom Perevegyencev for Syracuse’s first goal of the game.

But playing for the home fans is an entirely different scenario. Syracuse has ranked in the top 40 nationally in attendance during the last two seasons, averaging 802 fans per game in 2007 (36th in the nation) and 812 per game in 2008 (40th in the nation). Townsend said that the energy at the stadium has an influence on how the players perform.

‘When there’s a lot more riding on the game, you tend to take advantage of the adrenaline,’ Townsend said.

The Orange has ridden that adrenaline over the past several seasons, winning its last four home-openers. After a tough loss to Binghamton, Syracuse’s first non-conference loss in almost four years, the team will look to continue its streak of victories on the home field. The game snapped a 20-game non-conference unbeaten streak, the longest such stretch in the nation.

A victory against Cornell would be pivotal in getting Syracuse’s season started off on the right foot. The Orange has not had a winning record in Big East play since 1999, but have performed relatively well in non-conference games over the past several seasons. Two losses to non-conference opponents to open the season could affect the rest of the year.

The loss to Binghamton exposed several areas in which Syracuse needs to improve. All three of Binghamton’s goals came on crosses, which Townsend said has become a focal point of the team in practice.

For the freshmen like Brode, that issue of pride is not as prevalent. Zawislan helped recruit him to Syracuse, but that has not affected his perception of Saturday’s game.

‘I think it’s just another game,’ Brode said.

Maybe it is, but Brode might not feel that way in three years when he is looking back on his first home game.

azmeola@syr.edu

Published on September 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm