Before a single second ticked off the clock in the first game of the season, Syracuse looked different. When the Orange took the field, it sent three players back, five to the middle and two up top.

SU (5-4-2, 0-2-1 Atlantic Coast) changed to a 3-5-2 formation this season after using a 4-4-2 the year prior. While the Orange often switch formations based on the personnel, SU has settled on the 3-5-2 for 2017. Even though the new setup leaves fewer players on defense, there’s a higher emphasis on attack.

“We don’t come in with a preconceived notion of what we are going to do,” SU head coach Phil Wheddon said. “Many coaches have a system in mind and they say this is the system we’re going to play. We look at the strengths and attributes of the personnel in pre-season and say yeah we can try this.”

One of the major changes the 3-5-2 system brings is the addition of the wingback position in the midfield. If SU has the ball, the wingbacks push upfield on offense. Conversely, when the Orange is on defense, the wingbacks hustle back to defend.

“Wingbacks make or break the system,” Alana O’Neill said, “if they can’t get back there is too many attackers running at our defense. You always want to be numbers up on defense.”

The addition of the wingbacks takes away a defender the 4-4-2 normally features. Without a fourth defender, the defense has to stay spread out until the wingbacks provide defensive aid. On Sept. 24, a hole in the defense was almost exposed when SU played then-No. 19 Clemson. The Tigers defense launched a ball to Mariana Speckmaier who took the ball down field, burning SU’s defense and creating a one-on-one with SU goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan. No goal came of Speckmaier’s effort, but the 3-5-2’s weakness had been exploited.

Offensively, the 3-5-2 allows SU to exploit the sides of the fields and send numbers forward. SU can keep forwards high up top while spreading the midfield out to create width.

“In previous years,” Alex Lamontagne said, “the forwards kept dropping back and we couldn’t get width.”

So far, Syracuse has used this system in three ACC games. While SU hasn’t won an ACC game yet this season, the system has allowed SU to compete with opponents that had recent success against the Orange. In 2016, Syracuse mustered only seven shots against Clemson, allowing 31 to the Tigers in a 4-0 loss. In the two sides’ 2017 matchup, the Orange tallied nine shots to the Tigers’ 16 in a 0-0 tie.

The flexibility of the formation, especially with the wingbacks, is what Wheddon said will help SU in conference play. The wingbacks can stay forward and take on an attacking posture or fall back and create more of a 5-3-2 formation to assist the defense.

“It’s all about the players,” Wheddon said. “If we didn’t have the personnel we do, we wouldn’t be playing that system.”

Published on October 2, 2017 at 9:53 pm

Contact Kaci: klwasile@syr.edu