Fitting a 17-game regular season into a span of just more than two months gives Syracuse little time to revel in its record-breaking season. Each time the Orange’s next match rolls around, it’s still recovering from its last.

Weekends on the road and weekday games against central New York opponents — against Cornell, Colgate and Albany and at Binghamton — have become the norm.

On Friday at 7 p.m. at SU Soccer Stadium, No. 4 Syracuse (10-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) will play its third game in seven days with a match against Wake Forest (6-5, 2-2). Despite the quick turnarounds, the team has gotten off to its best start in program history, and currently holds its highest-ever national ranking.

The Orange takes on the Demon Deacons just three days after Tuesday’s 2-1 comeback victory over Albany.

“Winning (against Albany) will make it better,” said head coach Ian McIntyre. “It makes you feel a little bit lighter on your feet. But it’s about management of the bodies.”

Though McIntyre’s rotations have helped the players’ freshness and health, SU’s schedule may slowly be taking a toll on its players.

This past weekend, the Orange spent 20 hours on a chartered bus to and from Blacksburg, Virginia, after leaving a day early to save the players’ legs, McIntyre said. The team rode through the night — starting at 10:30 p.m. — back to Syracuse after its 1-0 victory over Virginia Tech.

“If you need anything in the next 10 hours, give me a call,” McIntyre said jokingly that night as the team boarded the bus.

Syracuse beat the Hokies, but it took a double-overtime effort and a goal in the 107th minute from Emil Ekblom to seal the victory. McIntyre said his team’s performance that night was “gutsy,” a word he also used to describe the team’s win over then-No. 2 Virginia on Sept. 27.

After a three-day layoff, Syracuse came out flat to start both halves against Albany. Early in the first half, McIntyre yelled from the sideline for midfielder Juuso Pasanen to “please win” a header, for midfielders Nick Perea and Julian Buescher to “get on the ball” and for the entire team to get tighter and “go get it.”

“It’s tough to come from an ACC game and then turn up for a Tuesday night game,” Pasanen said after the match.

But McIntyre’s use of player rotations and substitutions has helped produce four 1-0 victories over Binghamton, Clemson, St. John’s and Rutgers.

Midway through the first half, the coach usually replaces starters Chris Nanco and Buescher with Alex Halis and Stefanos Stamoulacatos. Whenever Korab Syla enters, it’s usually for Oyvind Alseth, and Noah Rhynhart often replaces Ekblom. Louis Cross has started most weekday games and Tyler Hilliard has started most weekend games.

On Tuesday, Syracuse used six subs in the second half alone, something McIntyre said the team needed to “freshen things up.”

“We’ve been putting a lot of minutes on (Hilliard),” McIntyre said after the Albany game, in which Hilliard replaced Cross in the 60th minute. “T’s been awesome, very good, and I think Louie’s had a good season. So ultimately to allow (Cross) to have minutes gave (Hilliard) a little bit of a rest tonight.”

Though Cross started 13 of the 17 games he played for Akron last season, the defender said he never started more than three or four games in a row.

Said Cross: “I’m quite used to resting one game and playing the next. It keeps me on my toes.”

Published on October 9, 2014 at 12:25 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu