Cardinals Control Syracuse in Orange ACC Opener

Junior Marcus Coleman and Senior Sean Hickey give a speech to a group of players
late in the fourth quarter against Louisville.

By: Tim Durr

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse University Orange lost its ACC opener against Louisville at the Carrier Dome Friday night 28-6. In the process, the injury report grew larger as quarterback Terrel Hunt exited the game twice; the first time he returned after one play, the second time he needed help off the field and did not return.

While Hunt was in the game, Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 ACC) managed to score two field goals against Louisville’s third-ranked defense in the country. The Cardinals  (5-1, 3-1 ACC) have the best rushing defense in the FBS, and allowed only 59 yards on the ground for the Orange, with most of that total coming on two plays. Hunt had an 18-yard rush, and Adonis Ameen-Moore had a 19-yarder.

The Orange scored first. A six play 41-yard drive resulted in a 3-0 lead for Syracuse on a 21-yard Cole Murphy field goal. Louisville responded with a 10 play, 65-yard drive that ended with a Brandon Radcliff four-yard touchdown run. John Wallace's extra point made it 7-3 Cardinals.

Two possessions later, Syracuse was pinned deep in its own territory after a Ryan Johnson punt was downed at the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Ameen-Moore was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

Louisville added a field goal and headed to halftime up 12-3.

Syracuse responded with a 24-yard Murphy field goal early in the 3rd quarter, but 12-6 was as close as it got in the second half. Radcliff added his second touchdown of the game, freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon threw a touchdown pass to Gerald Christian, and another safety was the icing on the cake with 4:17 left in the game when backup QB Austin Wilson's backward pass went out of the end zone.

Head Coach Scott Shafer discusses why he feels fortunate, 

even after a tough loss.

Radcliff Breaks Out

For the second game in a row, Brandon Radcliff thrived when he was given the opportunity to start. 

Last week against Wake Forest, Radcliff had 129 yards rushing and rwo TDs. This week, he put up similar numbers with 23 carries, 110 yards, and 2 touchdowns against the Orange.

The start against Wake Forest was Radcliff’s first of the season and his lack of exposure could be a reason why Syracuse didn’t seem to be ready for him, as he ran through tackles from start to finish Friday night.

Syracuse senior captain linebacker Cam Lynch said Radcliff ran hard all game.

“He’s strong, he’s a strong running back,” Lynch said. “We’ll go to hitting a lot more, wrapping up, and we have a good bunch (Florida State) coming in next week, so we have to make our tackles next week as well.”

Radcliff had his own views on why he broke so many arm tackles.

“I pride myself on [breaking tackles],” Radcliff said. “I just try to stay low, run hard, and break through those arm tackles.”

'Cuse Missed Opportunities

Heading into halftime, Syracuse was presented with an opportunity to get back in the game. It got the ball on its own 49-yard line with 50 seconds left in the half.

Head Coach Scott Shafer takes questions from the media after SU's 28-6 loss.

After gaining a first down on the second play of the drive, Hunt tried to call a timeout but Syracuse had none. Then, after three more seconds ran off the clock, Hunt spiked the ball with nine seconds left.

On the next play, he fumbled the snap, picked the ball up, and completed a pass to Jarrod West inside the Louisville 5-yard line. The only issue, there were only two seconds left on the clock. The offense hustled up and snapped the ball and spiked it before the clock hit zero, but the NCAA rule is that there must be at least three seconds on the clock for a spike to work.

Head coach Scott Shafer said that the blame for the play was his responsibility.

“We came up a second short,” Shafer said. “Shame on me, we didn’t get it done. Poor job by Coach Shafer there.”

The next time Syracuse returned to the red zone, it tried some trickery.

SU had the ball at the Louisville one-yard line after Hunt hit Ben Lewis for a 49-yard catch and run, but Lewis was hauled down just short of the goal line. After losing 3-yards on a plunge on first down, Prince-Tyson Gulley got the ball again and scrambled right on second down.He stopped and threw a halfback pass to the end zone, for what appeared to be an SU touchdown. The only issue, there was a flag on the play. Lineman Omari Palmer was illegally downfield and negated the score.

Then, Syracuse was called for holding and a first and goal from the one, turned into a second and goal from the 19.

Next, Syracuse decided to run another trick play, this time wideout Jarrod West passed the ball to Ben Lewis, who was wide open in the end zone. But Lewis dropped the ball, and Syracuse settled for a field goal.

Along with two interceptions, one coming right after Cam Lynch forced a fumble, and 75 penalty yards, Syracuse missed opportunities to have the final score closer. 

Cardinals Control the Field

While most of the statistics were closer than a 22-point loss would indicate, there were two areas where Louisville dominated. The first was in time of possession. The Cardinals controlled the clock for almost 37 minutes, compared to the Orange’s 23.

The other was in starting field position. The Cardinals started from inside their own 30-yard line three times on 14 possessions. The average starting field position for Louisville was its own 38-yard line. Compare that to Syracuse, who started inside its own 30-yard line on 11 of 14 possessions, and had an average starting field position of its own 24-yard line.

Shafer said even though the defense was clearly tired, the players still worked hard.

“[Total yardage we gave up] wasn’t too bad considering the time of possession and difficulties we put the defense in from the other side of the ball,” Shafer said.

Look Ahead

The Orange has lost three straight and will face No. 1 ranked Florida State next Saturday with a noon kickoff at the Carrier Dome.

Last year, Syracuse lost 59-3 in Tallahassee. Now, the Orange will look to pull an enormous upset when the highest ranked team in the country comes to the Carrier Dome. 

More Coverage

Full game stats, highlights and interviews, from Cuse.com

Louisville's perspective and coverage, from GoCards.com

Syracuse Wins Home Opener and First Game of Season

Story and photo by Kali Fisher

Syracuse, N.Y. -

Syracuse beat Colgate 2-1 in the first game of the hockey season at Tennity Ice Pavilion, Thursday night. But it took a while for both teams to get going.

The first period ended scoreless as the teams traded penalties.  

"I didn't think we were very well prepared early on," SU coach Paul Flanagan said. "I guess it's to be expected because we haven't played."

Sophomore forward Eleanor Haines finally scored the first goal of the season with less than five minutes left in the second period with assists from sophomore Laurence Porlier and freshman Dakota Derror.

Senior Captain Julie Knerr added to the score at 6:40 into the third period making it 2-0. She was assisted by freshman Megan Quinn and sophomore Heather Schwarz.

Colgate responded quickly on a goal by Breanne Wilson-Bennett with an assist by Nicole Gass making it 2-1 with just over ten minutes left. But even after pulling their goalie with 1:23 to go the Raiders could not tie it and Syracuse hung on for the win.



Junior Jenn Gilligan, who said she found out Wednesday night that she'd be starting had 20 saves. Syracuse outshot Colgate 29-21.



"I thought she played remarkably well, showed a lot of poise and composure," Coach Flanagan said.



"It was a team effort," Gilligan said.



Flanagan said he's disappointed in some of the plays and offensively the Orange needs to be more creative.

"More confidence with the puck, pass it around, get more shots on net," Haines said. "Something we need to do on the power play and on full strength."


There was a total of 14 penalties called; Syracuse with eight and Colgate with six. But neither team managed to score on a power play.



Despite the first game jitters the team is looking to go into the next game strong. Syracuse plays Boston College at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Orange Overcome Jitters and Penalties To Win its Season Opener

Story and Photos by: Jonathan Kahn

Syracuse, N.Y. -

Orange 5-4-1 all-time against Raiders

The Syracuse Women’s Ice Hockey team earned its 5^th all-time win against the Colgate Raiders Thursday night with a penalty ridden 2-1 victory at Tennity Ice Pavilion. 

Penalties for both teams came early and often. The Orange (1-0-0) and Raiders (0-1-0) combined for six penalty minutes in the first five minutes of regulation.  In total the Orange were called for eight infractions and the Raiders six. Syracuse Head Coach Paul Flanagan said preparation was a big factor.

“I didn't think we were very well prepared early on,” Flanagan said. “We recognize we’ve got some work to do.”

After a scoreless first period it was sophomore forward Eleanor Haines who put the Orange on the board first. Haines said it was SU's aggressive forechecking that led to the goal.

“We kind of stole the puck from Colgate,” Haines said. “I saw the goalie was looking for it on the other side of the net, so I just tucked it in.”  

Flanagan described the game as physical and gritty and the players agreed. Senior forward Julie Knerr said hockey is a physical sport.

“You don’t want to lose your battles,” Knerr said. “We were trying to win all our battles and we got penalties.”

The penalty killers saw a lot of ice-time and were a perfect 8-for-8 of their penalty killing chances. The Raiders took 10 of their 21 total shots during power-play chances. Syracuse redshirt-senior defender Akane Hosoyamada said it came down to blocking shots.

“We were sacrificing our bodies,” Hosoyamada said. “We all tried to block shots, and that was our mentality on the PK.”

Syracuse 3-3-1 in season openers

The pace of play quickened as the third period went on, both teams adding a goal. Syracuse doubled its lead just less than 7 minutes into the period.  Freshman defender Megan Quinn found Knerr for the odd-man rush goal. But Colgate answered back less than 3 minutes later. Freshman Breanne Wilson-Bennett cut the Syracuse lead in half.

There were a few frantic moments in the final few minutes for the Orange. Despite not finding the back of the Raiders empty net Syracuse held on for the one-goal win.

“It would have been such a downer to play hard tonight, our home opener, to let them come back in and take the game from us,” Flanagan said. “I think the girls recognize, yeah we’ll take the W, it’s a good win in some respects. But we have a long way to go and a lot of things to correct.”

The Orange will face No. 3 Boston College on Saturday Oct. 4. Syracuse is 1-1-1 against the Eagles and upset them 4-1 in their last meeting. 

One Was Enough for Irish Versus SU Men's Soccer

Defender Tyler Hilliard was disappointed 

Story and Photos by Thomas Zhou

Syracuse, N.Y -

It was the largest audience  the SU Soccer Stadium has ever had and the crowd was at its loudest booing the referee and cheering Skylar Thomas, with just under 16 minutes left in the match. That's when the Orange captain was ejected from the game due to his second yellow card for a defensive foul.

Notre Dame, the national defending champion, took advantage of the free kick and Brandon Aubrey scored for the Irish with a header on an assist from Patrick Hodan, silencing the crowd. It was all the Irish would need. 

The only goal of the game ended the Orange's four game winning streak, and gave SU its first loss of the season, 1-0. The match was the first in the ACC for both teams.

Syracuse had its chances in the game. The closest had come four minutes before Thomas' ejection, in the 70th minute when Oyvind Alseth’s shot from outside the box hit the right post.

Playing a man down, the Orange intensified the attack after falling behind and outshot the Irish in the game 13 to 12, but only three shots were on the target.

Syracuse students on the hill cheering the team

 “It is definitely disappointing," Syracuse goalie Alex Bono said. "As a goal keeper, you take it personally for letting the goals in.” 

The goal was the first against Bono this season, ending his streak of 434:05 without allowing a goal and it was the second-longest by an SU keeper on record.

However, Bono's steady performance kept the team's hope to tie the game alive until the end. He made seven saves in the game and twice stopped potential shooters with sliding tackles outside the penalty area in the last 15 minutes.

 

“We did as well as a job we could,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said.

Upset at the result as he was, he praised the players for showing character and gave credit for players coming off the bench.

\“We play SU soccer like we did tonight, good things will happen this season,” he said. 

The record attendance of 2,442 is the first time a crowd has exceeded 2,000 at the SU Soccer Stadium.

The Orange will host Cornell on 7 p.m. next Tuesday.

 

Orange Volleyball in Search of First Conference Win.

By Jessica Eley

Uattara attacks the ball

Syracuse University's volleyball team hits the road again this weekend, still looking for its first ACC win.



The Orange lost at NC State 3-0 and at 12th-ranked North Carolina 3-0 this past weekend. The women have won just two of the last eight matches they've played.



The team was led offensively by junior outside hitter, Silvi Uattara. She finished the weekend with 18 kills.



"I think it was a really good fight against UNC. We were playing really smart. Actually, I think it was a really good game," Uattara said.



Uattara said although the Orange lost, she thinks everyone's been giving 100 percent, including redshirt sophomore outside hitter, Valeriya Shaipova.



Shaipova tore her ACL last October and she said she's been working hard to get stronger since then. Last year, she contributed more offensively. She collected 129 kills during the 2013 season with only playing 64 out of 122 sets, due to her injury.



Last weekend, she used her long, 6'3 frame, to help her team with blocking and digging.



"I'm trying to help in the block, sometimes in defense...if I can do hitting which I did last year, but I'm trying to help somehow," Shaipova said.



She said she doesn't think she'll be back to her full playing ability until the end of October.




Looking Ahead

The Orange travel this weekend to Notre Dame on Friday and Boston College on Sunday.



"We've been practicing and playing for so long all those tournaments all all those practices...conference, that's what we're here for, and it's quite exciting," Uattara said.



Uattara said they're not looking at where the teams are in the rankings right now because everybody in the conference is improving a lot.



"I think that we just have to focus on ourselves first and we have to make sure we're ready for the game," Uattara said. "That we're digging like crazy, running for every ball and hitting at everything."



Last year the Orange began its' conference schedule 0-4 and inished its' first season in the ACC tied for fifth.

The Longer the Wait, the Sweeter the Prize

By Danielle Kennedy

Even a cold and rainy Saturday morning doesn’t stop Dan Muldoon from running. 

He hates running in the mornings, and to make matters worse, it’s not even 8:30 a.m. and his shirt is already soaked with a mixture of rain and a cold sweat. 

Muldoon is doing a Fartlek run at Long Branch Park, alternating between an easy and hard effort.  Although he is a senior captain, Muldoon isn’t leading the group of Liverpool High School Cross Country runners.  Instead, he trails about 30 feet behind them.  He’s the caboose, the quiet leader that won’t let anyone fall off of the pace.

Long Branch Park (c) Danielle Kennedy

If you need a lesson on how to be patient, just ask Dan Muldoon.  Some may believe that waiting for a single moment is irrational; he just says it yields delayed gratification.  He knows what he wants and he works for it, but he’s not scared to wait for it.  He looms quietly behind his teammates, goals and competitors.




He wants, he works and he waits; his eyes never losing sight of the prize.  And when that moment is right, he breaks the reins and goes for the win.  He wants to outlast everyone and his teammates and coach have learned to count on that.

“Dan works hard and is always there when it matters,” head cross country coach Tracey Vannatta said in an email.  “I don’t think he is into big speeches, but the guys know he is in 110-percent when the gun goes off.”

The Beginning

Dan Muldoon started running Cross Country when he was a seventh-grader at Liverpool Middle School.  He wasn’t very good, the 10^th runner on the team at best, but he wanted to stay in shape so he stuck with it.  By the end of his freshman cross country season, Muldoon went from being at the front of the JV running squad to the back of the varsity squad.  At the 2012 Section III Class A Cross Country Championships, Muldoon was one of two freshmen who qualified to race for Liverpool that day, finishing as the teams sixth runner and 23^rd overall in the field of 125.  He scored points for the team, but Vannatta was certain that with the proper training he would develop into a top runner.

“When Dan was a freshman, I immediately picked him out as a runner that was going to make a difference for us,” Vannatta said.  “I feel we have a solid trust in each other, and that is why we succeed.”  

 

Going into his sophomore year, Muldoon didn’t just want to train and compete in the company of the best.  He wanted to be the best. 

To do so, he started by investing in his coaches and his teammates.  He ran more miles, incorporated healthier foods into his diet, and followed closely on the heels of senior captain Drew Henry.  Finishing ahead of Henry at the 2012 Sectional meet, Muldoon earned himself an individual ticket to the NYSPHSAA Cross Country Championships alongside his teammate, freshman Ben Petrella.  The two finished 51^st and 15^th overall in the Class A race. 

One week later, the two led the team to a sixth-place finish out of 28 teams at the New York State Federation Championships, where Muldoon finished nearly 50 seconds ahead of Henry.  The pieces were finally starting to come together, just as Vannatta had predicted.   

“I obviously got physically stronger,"Muldoon said. "I mentally matured, and it was just a combination of a lot of things that just had to do with experience and getting older.”

The Competitive Edge

In the winter of 2012, Muldoon decided to join the swim team, a true test to see how fit and strong he really was.  Because he was coming off of cross country season, his swim training got a late start, but head swimming coach Mike Ferrell said that in his first race in the 200-yard freestyle, you would’ve never known.   

“He took it out as a competitor,” Ferrell said.  “That set the theme of Dan and swimming: He just goes for it.” 

Once he got going, he didn’t stop. 

Seniors of the Liverpool Cross Country team
(c) 2014 Danielle Kennedy

Muldoon’s motivation in the pool carried into his third cross country season.  As a captain, he led the team to a second-place finish at the 2013 Sectional Meet, first place at the Federation Championship, and third at Nike Cross Country Regionals.  For the first time the Warriors received an at-large bid for the Nike Cross Country National Championship in Portland, Oregon.  Going into the meet, the men were ranked as the No. 7 team in the country but on race day, they only managed to finish 20th.
Muldoon said that although he was the first finishing scorer for the team, he was still disappointed.

“If I come in third but our team still does amazing, I don’t really care that much. Like nationals, I came in first [for our team] but we did awful so I was upset that we did bad.  People don’t understand that cross country is a team sport.”

When he arrived home from nationals, he wasted little time getting back into swimming shape.  Ferrell said that while Muldoon may have come back in great running shape, it still took six to eight weeks to acclimate to the resistance of the water.  But by the end of the season, he had impressed Ferrell once again.  In just one year, Muldoon shaved his 500-yard freestyle time down from 6 minutes and 2.50 seconds to 5 minutes and 44.46 seconds and competed at sectionals in the butterfly and backstroke. 

“This reflects a very steep learning curve, attributed to cognitive attention to details, intrinsic motivation, hard work, and natural athletic characteristics,” Ferrell said in an email.

But Muldoon’s successes don’t just come from natural athleticism.  In fact, his impressive speed rating wasn’t the only reason his teammates voted him team captain for two consecutive seasons.  He’s an A student, enrolled in AP Statistics, Pre-Calculus through Onondaga Community College, AP Economics, and an English class through Syracuse University.  He’s also a varsity club representative and senior class president. 

But when the gun in a race sounds, Muldoon isn’t thinking about combinations or transformations – the only limits he sees are the physical and mental battle between what he wants and how badly it hurts to go and get it.    

“I drive myself off of getting mad when I’m running, so I try and get myself mad.It just helps me push myself and get past the pain factor.  It makes me mad that I have to race, even though I want to. After the race, I’m glad I did, but at the start of the race, I’m angry that I’m about to race.” 

Liverpool, CNS, Auburn Duel Meet at Long Branch Park
(c) 2014 Danielle Kennedy

Racing next to his teammates also gives him that competitive boost. 
   

Senior Connor Buck says that when he’s racing alongside Muldoon and Junior Ben Petrella, the three push each other to run faster.  While they can’t read each other’s minds, a few words of encouragement exchanged under a free breath helps keep the group going.  When one falls off of the pace, a quick hand gesture commands a short surge to “just go” and move up with the rest of pack. 

But more often than not, Muldoon is just a few feet behind.  He says he’s patient, but Buck says it just makes the rest of the runners, and even Coach Vannatta, a little nervous.

“He’s a little too patient sometimes,” Buck said.  “But if he says he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it.  That’s just how Dan is.” 

“I definitely like to go out slower and reel everybody in,” Muldoon said.  “It’s a way better feeling to know that you’re catching them instead of them catching you.  I’ve had races where I’ve raced well and went out fast for cross country, but mentally, the whole time I was racing, I was worried I’d get caught, and I think that’s the reason why I actually ran fast.” 

“Dan is a hard worker but has a fear of getting injured from doing too much of anything,” Vannatta said.  “This is a healthy fear but because of it, he is not the one pushing the training paces and mileage limits.”

But for Muldoon, mental training is more important than pushing paces or crushing mileage goals.  A strong mind, he noted, holds more value in some cases than a strong body.  Throughout the course of the 2013 season, Muldoon proved this to be true. 

He finished first at the team time trial in August and was the team’s third and fourth scorer for the first two races of the season.  When championship season arrived though, Muldoon was the first scorer for the team when it mattered most.  He was the team’s first scorer at the Manhattan Invitational, New York State Federations, Nike Cross Country Regionals, and finally, Nike Cross Country Nationals.   

Where’s He Headed Next?

This season his sights are set on leading his team to beat rival Fayetteville-Manlius at the Section III Championships, be a top-five finisher at the state meet, and finally, help the team earn another trip back to Oregon.  Four years ago, Muldoon would’ve only dreamed to be the catalyst for a trip to NXN’s – now, it’s his reality.   

“I’ve learned that a lot of things with running, and I guess life in general, is more mental than it is physical,” he said.  “If you mentally think you can do something, then you physically probably can. I guess that I’ve learned to push myself further than I have before.”

Back at Long Branch Park, the workout is almost over.  What was a tight pack 20 minutes earlier is now just a string of boys running in a line about 50 feet apart from each other.  But up front, Petrella, Buck, and Muldoon have regrouped and pulled away.  They finish up and run into the parking lot to stop and wait for the rest of the guys.  They exchange high fives and "good jobs." 

 It’s still cold and wet but a faint steam floats atop the sweaty group and slowly disappears.  When everyone is ready they throw on their sweatshirts, put their hoods up and begin their cool-down jog towards Onondaga Lake.  

Syracuse vs. Louisville Game Preview

                                                     
                                             
 

                                           

           Friday, October 3, 2014 - 7:00 P.M. ET

          TV: ESPN

          Carrier Dome

                      Syracuse, New York          

By Michael Castellano

Coming off it's second straight loss to #8 Notre Dame last Saturday at MetLife Stadium the Orange will look to get back in the win column as it opens up ACC play against the 4-1 Louisville Cardinals. For the second consecutive week the Orange will be in the spotlight as Friday's game will be televised nationally on ESPN at 7 p.m.. Let's take a look at what fans can be in store for as Syracuse opens up ACC play to continue the 2014 season.

No Run, No Win?

In the Orange's loss last week to the Irish its run game was shut down by the potent Notre Dame defense. Syracuse' leading rushers Terrel Hunt and Prince-Tyson Gulley combined for only 65 yards on the ground. Those numbers don't appear to have much potential to get better as Louisville, which leads the nation in rushing defense, has held its first five opponents to an average of 58.2 yards on the ground thus far in 2014.

Stepping Up and Stepping In

Starting WR Ashton Broyld missed last week's game against the Irish and is expected to be sidelined for Friday's game against Louisville. Senior Jarrod West stepped in and pulled in his first 100-yd reception game of the season totaling 103 yards on eight catches. The eight catches were a career best for West as he became the 11th player in SU history to eclipse the 100 career reception mark.




Familiar Foes



The Orange and Cardinals aren't strangers. In an eight year stretch from 2005-2012 the two teams played each other every year as members of the Big East Conference. In the last contest in 2012 the Orange defeated the Cardinals 45-26 at the Carrier Dome led by Ryan Nassib's three touchdown passes.




Built Tough

According to the NCAA Syracuse has the eighth-most difficult schedule in the country which continues this week with the 4-1 Cardinals who received votes in the latest national polls.
So far in 2014 SU's opponents are a combined 39-17 good for a .696 winning percentage.




Walk On, Walk In

Freshman kicker Cole Murphy has proved his worth in the Orange's last two games. The walk-on, who didn't kick a FG in Syracuse' first two games, has connected on 2-3 attempts in the Orange' last two losses. He was 1-2 against the Irish last week including a 38-yard FG and another that just missed hitting the right upright.

Turnover For What?

Both Syracuse and Louisville have had a knack for causing turnovers this season so far. The Cardinals are fifth in the nation in turnovers gained (13) and the Orange forced five turnovers last week against Notre Dame including three fumbles lost.