Orange Crushed by No. 17 Clemson, Drop Yet Another Road Match
By Tom Russo
CitrusTV Women’s Soccer Beat Reporter
CLEMSON, S.C.- A wise man once said, “Half our games are on the road, so if we can’t win on the road, we can only ever be half as good as we need to be.”
While that man may have been a high school baseball coach, his point rings true at any level of any game. And nowhere does it ring more accurate than right now than for Syracuse (3-9-2, 1-5-1 Atlantic Coast).
The Orange, while limping to a less than spectacular but still respectable 3-3-1 record at the S.U. Soccer Stadium, have been an atrocious 0-6-1 on the road this season, the sixth loss coming today to No. 17 Clemson (9-4-1, 3-4 Atlantic Coast).
It was the worst defensive performance of the season for Syracuse, as the Orange gave up a season-high four goals on 24 shots in the 4-1 loss.
Lysianne Proulx was under siege throughout the match, facing 11 shots in the first half and 13 in the second. The star keeper held her own through the first 30 minutes before Renee Guion delivered a beauty into the upper 90 in the 32nd minute to open the scoring for the Tigers.
No. 17 Clemson wouldn’t look back for the rest of the match. In the 40th minute, Abby Hanks looped a crosser inside the far post to make it 2-0 Tigers.
In the second half, Proulx stood steady against a fresh barrage of shots for the first 15 minutes, but in the 60th minute, Kimber Haley broke away and chipped one over the head of Proulx to make it 3-0. Three minutes later, Patrice DiPasquale headed home a free-kick to officially put the match out of reach at 4-0.
The lone bright spot for the Orange came with two minutes remaining in the match when a brilliant cross from Terri Jackson set up Stephanie deLaforcade for an easy finish in a wide-open net to make it 4-1. deLaforcade’s shot was one of only four the Orange attempted in the match, as the trend of struggling to find offense continues for Syracuse.
The Orange will continue their road trip on Thursday when they head to North Carolina to face N.C. State (6-5-4, 1-2-4 Atlantic Coast).
twrusso@syr.edu I @TomRusso24
