Two wins this season have already matched Syracuse’s win total from a year ago, and all signs are pointing to an improved team. And if there’s anything pushing the Orange to surpass the limited success it had in 2010, it’s the realization for several players that this is their final chance to be part of a memorable season.

Especially since the last couple of years have been anything but.

‘I think the last couple years with Syracuse not being great, there’s a lot of guys who want to finish on a high,’ junior midfielder Ted Cribley said. ‘There’s a lot of juniors and seniors who feel that this is their last chance to do well.’ 

Still early in the season, there have been several highs mixed in with a few lows that unveiled the growing pains Syracuse (2-4, 0-0 Big East) is undergoing in its second year under head coach Ian McIntyre. While there are some upperclassmen looking to make their mark in their last chance at contending for a conference championship, the Orange’s identity is still a developing group of newcomers trying to exceed expectations. Whether they can do so over the long haul or not remains to be seen.

With the start of the Big East schedule opening up at the end of the week, there is at least some hope that the Orange could be turning the page after two underwhelming years. In 2009 and 2010, SU went a total of just 5-25-5 overall.

Now in McIntyre’s second year at the helm, with his system already set in place, there has been a shift from a rocky upheaval to a cohesive group.

‘I think we’re a little closer than we were last year,’ junior midfielder Mark Brode said. ‘There’s more of like a bond between everyone on the team. And I think there’s more quality on our team, so it’s been more fun to play.’

Despite some of the flaws that have emerged for the Orange in several games, including mental errors or its occasional stagnant offense, the players have kept a positive outlook. It’s been a show of more hope than anxiety, where the concern that SU will return to the doormat of the conference hasn’t revealed itself.

Some of that confidence could involve an emergence of unlikely players that have been major contributors thus far. Freshman defender Skylar Thomas is tied with senior midfielder Nick Roydhouse for a team-leading two goals.

Behind them are Louis Clark, Federico Agreda and Jordan Murrell, who each have one score apiece.

None of those three players had scored in a Syracuse uniform before this season, but now they’ve all become offensive threats.

‘I think we have some more attacking options this year,’ McIntyre said. ‘I think as this team evolves we can have some exciting players.’

McIntyre has spoken several times about instilling a winning attitude in his players. Even after his team’s first win of the season against Canisius, McIntyre was already focused on making sure his players were used to that feeling of walking off the field victorious.

‘There’s a way of learning to win games,’ McIntyre said. ‘And winning becomes a little bit of a habit, and hopefully we can start doing that.’

Syracuse hasn’t reached that point yet, but it’s still not out of the realm of possibility. And even in the Orange’s losses, it didn’t go down without giving its opponents fits.

That held true this past weekend when the Orange held No. 16 New Mexico scoreless until the 81st minute. Syracuse fought back and scored just more than one minute later to tie it up, but eventually lost five-plus minutes into overtime. The Orange couldn’t beat the Lobos, but it put up enough of a fight to show that further success is possible.

There’s still a long way until determining whether or not Syracuse is a legitimate Big East contender.

For now, though, the players can feel the program is taking a step in the right direction.

‘We’ve still got a lot to work on, you can’t change a program around in two years from being very mediocre to a brilliant program,’ Cribley said. ‘But Mac’s taking the right direction. The right players are here. And you’ve got to go one step at a time, so hopefully this is one of those stepping stones.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on September 19, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman