On one of the hottest September days in Syracuse since 1936, the Orange used all but six players on its 23-woman roster.

Trying to mix through its lineup and give players added rest, Syracuse (5-3-2, 0-1-1 Atlantic Coast) tied No. 19 Clemson (6-3-1, 0-2-1), 0-0, on Sunday at SU Soccer Stadium. The heat and Clemson’s aggressiveness forced the Orange to play more defensively at times to conserve energy, SU head coach Phil Wheddon said.

“I thought we did a really good job of having players pick and choose when to go forward,” Wheddon said. “… The speed we knew Clemson was going to play at … we knew we’d be making a ton of 70-yard runs back toward our own goal.”

That approach to play led to opportunities for the Tigers, which fired 16 shots on net. By playing back on defense, Syracuse forced Clemson to shoot from outside the penalty area. Goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan made just five saves in the clean sheet.

One of those came after a second-half yellow card, when Brosnan attempted to clear an incoming ball. She went to kick the ball but missed and took Mariana Speckmaier to the ground. On the ensuing free kick, Brosnan dove right and pushed the ball away. Clemson retained possession but its second attempt went wide.

Those second chances put added pressure on a Syracuse team already backed up in its own zone. Wheddon monitored his players closely and made an “immediate change” when his sideline identified any heat-related fatigue. Kate Hostage left the game twice with a lower-body injury. Mackenzie Vlachos said the team wanted to “keep our shape,” and not allow for a fatigue-related error leading to a Clemson goal.

“Clemson is a pretty direct team, so they’re playing a lot more balls forward,” Brosnan said. “Which definitely puts the back line and the holding (midfielders) under pressure.”

Entering overtime, the physicality of the increased, with players on both ends sliding to break up balls around the midfield. Bodies collided in Syracuse’s box often as Sam Staab routinely threw balls from out-of-bounds into the box attempting to spark chances.

“We battled for 110 minutes in that heat … I don’t think anybody’s ever satisfied with a tie, no matter who it’s against,” Brosnan said. “But I think we made massive improvements today.”

Published on September 24, 2017 at 6:37 pm

Contact Bobby: rpmannin@syr.edu