Cecilia Borgstrom picked up a head of steam and entered the left side of the 18-yard box with the ball cushioned on her foot. She tried to shoot, but the slick field surface caused Borgstrom to fall and the shot sailed wide.

Erin Simon tracked the ball down in the far right corner, settled it for a moment, and crossed it back to the middle. Jackie Firenze placed her head on the pass and directed it into the net.

Firenze’s goal extended SU’s lead over Seton Hall to 3-1, and epitomized the kind of night it was at the SU Soccer Stadium. Constant rain provided a slick field surface, which combined with a cold wind on a 54-degree night made it difficult for players to make precision cuts and lead passes.

The Orange overcame the obstacles, tying its season-high goal total in the 3-1 win.

Syracuse defender Kayla Afonso said rainy weather is her favorite to play in and one that the SU team is not only used to, but thrives in. The starting unit talked about the weather in its pregame huddle, and the players knew they were ready to face the challenge.

“With the weather (being how it was) we just had to be aware that our defensive shape had to be really good and our cover for each person was there,” senior midfielder Alyscha Mottershead said.

Afonso and Mottershead were the two best players on the field. Afonso was dominant with her slide tackles on the defensive end. She also put one of the team’s main focuses this week –putting defenders on the attack – into effect. Her defensive stops translated into counter-attacks, and also times when she herself dribbled the ball deep into the Pirates zone.

Although Mottershead found herself on the ground a few times, she continued to possess the ball and use her quick footwork to make plays, just as she has all season.

She also came up with the game’s biggest play early on.

In the 24th minute, Mottershead found her footing and beat Seton Hall goalkeeper Gina Maiorana to a 50-50 well beyond the 18-yard box. She sent a cross to Jenna Rickan, who headed the ball into an empty net for the first goal of the game.

In the 38th minute, Mottershead took advantage of the conditions once again, scoring a goal of her own to break a 1-1 standstill. An initial shot was saved, but the wet ball caused the Seton Hall goalkeeper to lose it, and Mottershead pounced on the rebound.

“Especially in these conditions, since it’s raining, you know that the keeper’s going to have to make a difficult save,” Mottershead said. “Luckily for me I just followed it up knowing, or expecting, that the ball would come to me and I just ended up putting it in the net.”

Mottershead said the conditions made the Orange more aware of how the ball bounced, and that the team focused on passing directly to players’ feet instead of into spaces.

SU learned of this early on, as the lead passes they would normally try resulted in the ball going beyond the intended receiver. Erin Simon and Alexis Koval were called for offside trying to chase balls out of their reach. If it were on a dry surface, the passes could have led to great scoring chances.

“In these conditions obviously it makes things a little bit more difficult as far as ball control goes,” head coach Phil Wheddon said. “But it’s the same for both teams. … Obviously the ball is moving a lot faster on this surface when it’s wet so your touch has to be very good.”

Published on September 29, 2012 at 9:40 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu