Syracuse Struggles Offensively in Loss to #2 Virginia

The Syracuse women's soccer team lost to the Virginia Cavaliers 5-0 as they struggled offensively at home

The Syracuse women’s soccer team struggled offensively as they lost 5-0 to Virginia today at the SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange had a difficult task ahead of them, trying to take down the #2 ranked team in the country at home. The Orange were able to hold off Virginia’s offense for most of the match, but their defense quickly devolved as the Cavaliers scored 4 goals in the span of 10 minutes early in the second half.

Syracuse played most of the game defensively as the Cavaliers were constantly threatening to score. The Orange added a boost to their defense as senior defender Jenna Tivnan returned to the lineup against Florida State after missing five games due to an injury. Syracuse was able to stymie most of the attacks but were unable to stop Virginia forward Haley Hopkins as she opened the scoring for Virginia in the 54th minute of the match.

The Orange struggled offensively for the match, only having 2 shots and 0 corner kicks for the entire match. “We’re still trying to find how we can get forward against certain teams,” Coach Nicky Adams said about how the team lacked offense for the game against top ranked Virginia.

Goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx had an impressive performance for the majority of the game except for the short burst of scoring by Virginia, having several impressive saves to keep the match scoreless in the first half. Proulx had a total of 13 saves for the match.

This game finishes up a difficult stretch for the Orange as they come off losses against #1 ranked Florida State and #4 ranked Duke. The loss brings their record to 4-8-1 for the season and 0-6-0 in ACC play.

Virginia is still undefeated against Syracuse since their first meeting in 2006, with the Cavaliers having 7 wins against the Orange in their history. This loss also lengthens the Orange’s losing streak to 7, their last win coming against New Hampshire on September 5th. Syracuse continues ACC play as they play host to Pittsburgh on Saturday.