With 36 seconds left in the game, Jackie Firenze dribbled down the field until she got close enough to fire a desperation shot that sailed wide left of the goal.

Pittsburgh goalie Taylor Francis secured the ball and with it, the win.

The play echoed the recurring theme for the Orange – missed opportunities. With none of Syracuse’s seven shots finding the back of the net, Syracuse failed to capitalize when it couldn’t afford to. The team failed to score a goal and a Roosa Arvas penalty kick goal was all Pittsburgh (5-6, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) needed to top Syracuse (4-5-3, 1-2 ACC), 1-0, at SU Soccer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

“To have the amount of opportunities we had, good opportunities we had, and to not come away with a win is unacceptable,” said SU head coach Phil Wheddon.

Just 10 minutes into the game, Emma Firenze dribbled a wide open shot right to Francis. In the 24th minute and again about three minutes later, Alex Lamontagne shot but didn’t score.

In the first opportunity the freshman forward won a one-on-one battle and the second shot was wide open within the six-yard box, but Francis made another easy save.

“I just think the problem is focus and the pressure,” Lamontagne said. “We just need to work on putting the ball in the corners and where the goalie isn’t.”

The team also nearly scored off a corner kick with eight minutes left in the first half, but sophomore Maddie Damm’s shot from 25 yards out just missed the top-left corner of the goal.

That made five first-half shots that didn’t find the back of the Pittsburgh net.

While missed shots were a problem in the first frame, Syracuse was only able to generate two total shots — one of which was on goal — in the second.

A shot by freshman forward Eva Gordon a little over 10 minutes into the half and Jackie Firenze’s desperate last try were Syracuse’s only real late chances.

Wheddon was disappointed after the loss and noted that it wasn’t necessarily the Panthers playing well, but rather his team failing to score goals. He noted that SU was able to get in behind Pittsburgh’s defense often because of its slightly higher back line which led to opportunities.

While the chances were there for the team, the head coach couldn’t give much of an explanation of why the team wasn’t able to convert.

“How we’re not able to put these balls away I don’t know,” said Wheddon. “I don’t think it’s tactical, I don’t think it personnel, I think it’s just composure in front of goal. We have good players. We just have to be more composed.”

In front of the goal is not the only place Syracuse could have used composure. The team totaled seven offside penalties throughout the game, some coming at critical times.

Twice in the game, the team was able to advance the ball up the field to Alexis Koval, but the senior forward was unable to get a shot off once the referees blew their whistles.

“Offsides penalties killed us today,” Damm said. “Pitt is good on set pieces, they’re good on corners and that’s how they scored their goals.”

Wheddon and the team will need to work out the difficulties and do so quickly. With the toughest opponents on their schedule still to come, the team is going to need to be able to not just score, by score often.

And moving forward, Damm has a more intangible solution for her coach.

“I think it’s all about passion, wanting to get under the ball and wanting to put it into the back of the net,” said Damm. “Everyone on this team has the skill to do it. It honestly just comes down to passion and heart when wanting to finish the game.”

Published on September 28, 2014 at 5:57 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu