Midfielder Louis Clark’s eyes lit up when he started talking about his team’s defensive play.

Syracuse’s defense has posted shutouts in five of its six games, including three in a row, and has only given up two goals all season. The play of the backline has paved the way for the offense to score 15 goals in the team’s last three games.

“Unbelievable,” Clark said. “The back five with Bono and then the four in front of him, they’re the foundation of our team, really. If they don’t let goals in, then we can do business up front and score goals.”

SU’s defense has improved considerably from last year and has served as a catalyst for the offense. The defense ranks second in the NCAA in shutouts and eighth in goals allowed, and has sparked the Orange (5-1) to its best start in 16 years.

The defense will look for another shutout against UNLV (1-4-1) on Friday night in Las Vegas at the UNLV Nike Invitational. The Orange will then take on Cal State Fullerton (1-5) at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Las Vegas.

Head coach Ian McIntyre is impressed with his team’s play defensively thus far and said that the backline has been instrumental in Syracuse’s success.

“They’ve been very good,” McIntyre said. “We talk about building a foundation on the ability to keep the other team off the score sheet. It’s the whole team having the commitment to team defense, and we’ve shown that over the majority of the season.”

While the Syracuse offense leads the nation with 19 goals and 17 assists, the defense has been stellar as well, with only two blemishes up to this point.

McIntyre attributes a significant portion of the defensive improvement to the maturity of sophomores Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas and Chris Makowski, who have all honed their individual games and meshed as a unit.

“To ask for three of your back four to be freshmen last year, now three of our back four are sophomores, and I think that really helps,” McIntyre said. “Just having that confidence to realize that we’ve got a good team and trying to ensure that we limit our individual and collective mistakes, and if an opponent is gonna score a goal, it’s going to have to be something special.”

Murrell has become a vocal leader for the Orange this season and has helped contribute to SU’s dominance as of late. He said that the group has come together this season and is clicking more than last year.

“We’ve just gelled more together,” Murrell said. “We’ve been playing well. Keeping everybody positive throughout the team, it starts from the keeper all the way through the strikers. We’ve just been more positive.”

Makowski echoes a similar sentiment — the players are buying into the system and clicking as a unit.

That bond has translated to a cohesive and potent backline for the Orange. After giving up nine goals through six games in 2011, the team has only given up just a pair in 2012.

Makowski said McIntyre goes over formations of opposing teams in practice and helps prepare the Orange on the best way to counter the particular alignment. He added that the team makes adjustments on a game-to-game basis based on the strengths of the other team.

Those adjustments have worked seamlessly to this point, as the Orange has shut out the opposition in five of six games, a significant improvement from last year’s lone shutout in a tie against Louisville.

Makowski said a central focus this year is on getting shutouts — not just playing well defensively, but focusing on details and not giving the other team any chances to take a lead.

“(Getting) shutouts is one thing we didn’t do last year,” Makowski said. “Together, as a team, we’ve pushed towards the thought that if you don’t give up goals, you can’t lose games.”

Published on September 13, 2012 at 1:46 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass