Orange Faces First Road Test at Cornell
9/7/2004 3:33:35 PM | Men's Soccer
ITHACA, N.Y. - The Syracuse men's soccer team plays its first road game of the 2004 season at Cornell on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Kickoff at Berman Field is set for 7 p.m.
Syracuse is 0-2-0 after a 2-1 loss to Adelphi on Sunday, Sept. 5. The Orange held a 1-0 lead after 16 minutes, but the Panthers came back with two unanswered goals. Adelphi scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute of play. SU redshirt freshman Isaac Collings netted his first goal of the season, bending a corner kick into the back of the net. It was the second straight game that an SU freshman registered his first career goal. Junior Rich Scheer made his first start of the season in goal, making three saves. Freshman forward Pete Rowley, who scored his first goal in the opener against St. Bonaventure, was in the starting lineup for the first time as well. The loss was SU’s second straight at home, the first two-game losing streak at the SU Soccer Stadium since the 2000 campaign. The Orange has lost three straight games by one goal.
The Big Red is 0-1-0 on the young season after losing a 2-1 decision to Lehigh in double overtime on Sept. 3. Wednesday’s game marks Cornell’s first home game of the season. Scott Palguta scored Cornell’s only goal off an assist from Peter Lynch. David Mahoney made nine saves in 108:29 minutes in goal for the Big Red. Cornell was 5-9-2 last season. The team got off to a 5-3-1 start, but was winless in its final seven matches. Senior Steve Reuter is the Big Red’s active point leader with 21. Mahoney started every game in goal last season, making 88 saves and compiling a 1.54 goals against average. Former Orange midfielder Jorge Rodriguez transferred to Cornell to follow in the footsteps of his brothers, Oswaldo and Carlos, both former Cornell players.
Cornell leads the all-time series with Syracuse, 34-22-7. Syracuse has won the last two meetings, including a 4-0 shutout at the SU Soccer Stadium last season, and four of the last five matchups. SU won its last trip to Ithaca, defeating the Big Red, 2-1, on Oct. 30, 2002. Syracuse has won its last two road games against the Big Red. Cornell’s last victory in the series was a 2-1, double-overtime decision on Nov. 7, 2001 in Syracuse.
COLLINGS NETS FIRST CAREER GOAL
Freshman forward Isaac Collings became the second SU rookie to score his first career goal with a tally against Adelphi. Collings put SU ahead 1-0 in the 15th minute when he bent a corner kick into the upper corner of the goal on the back post. Collings has started both games for the Orange so far in his rookie campaign. A redshirt freshman, Collings missed last season with a knee injury suffered while playing for the U.S. Under-18 National Team.
TWO GOALS IS ORANGE’S LUCKY NUMBER
Since the start of the 1999 season, the Orange is 34-7-2 when scoring at least two goals. Last season the Orange went 3-1-1 when scoring multiple goals. The only loss was to Pittsburgh, 3-2, in the season finale. In that same span, the Orange is 4-35-8 when scoring zero or one goal in a game. Syracuse has won 17 consecutive games when scoring at least three goals. The squad’s last loss when registering three-or-more goals was a 5-4 overtime game at #11 Georgetown on Oct. 18, 1998.
SCHEER MAKES FIRST START OF 2004
Junior goalkeeper Rich Scheer was the starter in SU’s game against Adelphi. It was Scheer’s first start since the Cornell game in 2003. Scheer made three saves in the complete-game effort. It was the first time he played 90 minutes since Sept. 22, 2001 in a 5-0 shutout of Providence. Scheer has played in seven games during his career, making four starts. He has 13 saves and a 1.70 goals against average. Scheer’s only career shutout came against the Friars as a freshman. He missed teh 2002 season with an injury.
