Kyle Hall didn’t hesitate.

When asked about the four ranked opponents that loom on the Syracuse University men’s soccer team’s schedule in the upcoming weeks, the junior forward immediately placed the games in their proper context.

‘This is our season right now,’ Hall said. ‘This is ultimately important. We need to go into this next game against Providence with fire and really come out strong because this is like the pinnacle for our season. If we lose, it’s not going to be the end of it, but we just need to win it so it doesn’t go into cycles like last year and the year before.’

Syracuse will look to defeat a ranked opponent for the first time today in its Big East home opener against No. 22 Providence at 7 p.m. at the SU Soccer Stadium. Providence is the second of five straight ranked opponents on Syracuse’s schedule (then-No. 3 Notre Dame defeated Syracuse 3-0 Sunday). Syracuse will also host No. 5 UConn Sunday afternoon.

Further complicating matters for SU is the health of All-Big East preseason selection Hansen Woodruff. Woodruff, second on the team with five points, did not play in the last two games due to a leg injury he suffered in practice last week and is a game-time decision for this weekend, SU head coach Dean Foti said. Woodruff, a junior forward, said he feels close to 100 percent, and he expects to play against Providence.

SU will have to buck some trends that have haunted it in the past few years to try and upset its upcoming opponents. Last season, SU went 1-3 against the four upcoming squads (road games at No. 19 USF and No. 4 St. John’s are in the next two weeks). The Orange is also 3-10-1 against the squads in the last four years, with two of the wins coming against USF. In its last 25 games against ranked opponents, SU is 4-16-5.

Having five such games in a row makes matters even more pressing for the Orange. Had the games been stretched out, Syracuse would have the opportunity to play non-ranked teams that could result in wins and give Foti’s team more votes in the national rankings. Instead, the difficult stretch could quickly start SU off at 1-5 in the Big East season.

‘The Big East games are the most important games of the season, and we’ve had tremendous success in playing out of conference teams but we need to make our mark in the conference,’ Foti said. ‘So these games are what we train for, what we practice for, this is what we prepare for, this is what we’re focused on so right now, it’s 100 percent on the Providence Friars.’

Foti believes his team is ready for this stretch of games that he calls ‘murderer’s row.’ He said the team’s ability to focus on one game at a time is key for a stretch like this. For example, after defeating Marquette this past weekend, Foti said his team did not celebrate jubilantly because it won on the road without Woodruff’s services.

And when the Fighting Irish blanked the Orange on Sunday, he said his team did not dwell on the shutout loss. Instead, Foti and SU took solace that it had 14 shots in the game against Notre Dame. If anything, the game gave the team confidence coming into this weekend.

‘We take from that that we can play with people like Notre Dame,’ Hall said. ‘…That’s confidence going into this weekend knowing we can play with any team in the country.

Confidence, though, can only play a little part in the outcome on the field. Foti believes his team has not reached its potential yet, particularly on offense. SU has only scored nine goals in seven games, but he’s pleased with the team’s amount of shots per game (14.4). Foti said that eventually shots will fall. Possibly getting Woodruff back, who scored five goals in Big East play last season, will be a boost.

Regardless, this weekend could be a season-turning point for the Orange. A win in either game could give SU momentum. Two losses and Syracuse could fall into the trap it has the past few seasons.

‘I think how we do in our next four games is going to determine how our season ends,’ Woodruff said. ‘If we don’t end up winning or at least getting more than seven points out of this week (of games), we’re going to have to win every game after that and (it will be the) same thing as last year and the year before. We don’t want to have to do that, so I’d say our season is riding on this weekend and the two games after that.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on September 25, 2008 at 12:00 pm