Nearly 11 minutes in on Thursday, Skylar Thomas emerged from a cluster of players in both Syracuse and Canisius jerseys to head the ball into the net for Syracuse’s first goal of the season.

But for Thomas and SU, the goal didn’t set the tone for the rest of the game. It was the method in which the freshman defender scored the goal. Thomas’ header was prophetic. The freshman defender spent the rest of the game manning the area in front of SU’s net while heading nearly every ball that came his way out of danger.

‘Our coach is a defensive player, too,’ Thomas said. ‘So he kind of taught us how to win the ball, how to position ourselves, what feet to get off of. He taught us well.’

It was the Orange’s aerial and defensive dominance against Canisius that allowed SU’s defense to complement the suddenly alive SU offense in its 2-1 win. Thomas may appear in the box score with a surprising goal, but his efforts and the defense’s impressive showing went a long way in keeping the ball out of the SU net in the victory.

‘If you can win that first ball in the air (that’s good),’ head coach Ian McIntyre said. ‘And then the critical thing is winning those knockdowns, and for a large part of the game, we did that today.’

Thomas certainly did his part in the back as one of three starting freshmen defenders, along with Jordan Murrell and Chris Makowski.

Thursday’s game was choppy and combative in spurts. The key plays made by the Syracuse defense to clear away Canisius’ chances made the difference.

Early on, defender Ryan Tessler sent away a cross with a diving header, pushing the ball over the SU goal line and out of bounds. It was a risky move because Tessler nearly directed the ball at the Syracuse net, but it paid off. With Thomas, Murrell and Makowski constantly batting the ball down with their bodies to send possession back to the Orange offense, more opportunities were created than in SU’s season-opening loss against Colgate.

The Orange’s attacking players also dominated the air game against the Golden Griffins. Both SU goals scored were influenced by won headers. Thomas, obviously, scored the first goal on a header of his own.

Senior forward Dan Summers’ header set up senior forward Federico Agreda to volley in Syracuse’s second goal. McIntyre said he was impressed with Summers’ ability to contest balls in the air throughout the game as well.

‘When the ball’s up in the air, you just contest it,’ Summers said. ‘And if you win it, you win it.’

In a game that was physical but never out of control, the Orange seemed to win most of those contests in the air. Working with the strikers and midfielders, the defense led the way on both the ground and in the air by nearly shutting out Canisius, save for a penalty kick goal late in the game.

And for Thomas, the defensive effort was satisfying after he wasn’t too pleased with his work in the beginning of the game.

‘There was maybe 20 minutes I was a little bit rough in the back, couldn’t get my feet settled,’ Thomas said. ‘But I picked it up and in the second half we did well defensively.’

While McIntyre spent time preaching the obvious importance of the offense’s outburst after the game, he acknowledged that extra effort on the part of the defense, especially with so many young defenders in the lineup.

‘An aerial part, that’s part of the game,’ McIntyre said. ‘And we’ve got a lot of young guys, but I thought defensively overall we did a pretty good job. And if your defenders every now and then can chip in with a goal, as Skylar did tonight, that’s great.’

rnmarcus@syr.edu

 

Published on September 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Rachel: rnmarcus@syr.edu