Syracuse blanked Rutgers, 2-0, on Saturday, notching its first opening-half goal in six games.

The Orangewomen will try to score first again when they host No. 21 Hofstra today at 3 p.m. at Coyne Field.

“We felt good coming out the first 10 minutes against Rutgers,” sophomore Ann-Marie Guglieri said. “We were getting shots off, and we were down in their end a lot. And that calmed us down a little.”

That allowed Lindsay Peirson to tip in a corner shot from Kristin Aronowicz for her team-leading third goal of the season. Sophomore Brittany Carriero added a goal with three minutes left to secure the win for SU (4-3, 1-0 Big East).

Goaltender Audrey Latsko recorded her fourth shutout of the season, stopping five shots.

Peirson’s goal was important for an offense that had only recorded one first-half goal before Saturday’s contest. That came in the season opener against Stanford on Sept. 6.

“Hopefully that’s over,” Carriero said. “I can’t tell you that until we step on the field again.”

Sluggish starts are not the only concern. Statistically, Syracuse dominated Rutgers (2-5, 0-1) outshooting it, 18-5, while collecting three more penalty corners. But SU only scored those two goals.

It’s happened before too. Recently against Penn State, SU took 9 shots without scoring in a 2-0 loss.

“Coach tells us, ‘When you lose, don’t lose the lesson,’ ” Guglieri said. “We’re just trying to learn, loss or win. We still realize we have a lot to work on.”

“We’re still not being as aggressive as we could be,” Aronowicz said. “The score (against Rutgers) could have been a lot higher. We need to be more offensive-minded.”

Scoring first has been the key to games so far. The Orangewomen are 4-0 when they score first but 0-3 when they don’t.

“It has a lot do to with our mentality,” Latsko said. “We’ve been in a slump and we’re trying to break that.”

This season, Hofstra (6-1) has played well, most recently against Fairfield. Hofstra scored 25 seconds into the game and tacked on three more in the first half, continuing the best start in school history.

Syracuse will try to counter Hofstra’s attack by dictating the game pace and taking the momentum from the start, Peirson said.

The game will be an opportunity for SU to continue its momentum before Sunday’s conference match against No. 17 Boston College.

“We need to have a win streak,” Aronowicz said. “We’re going to take the rest of our games very seriously.”

This and that

Peirson was selected as the Big East Offensive Player of the Week, leading the Orangewomen this season with three goals and six points. Peirson has a knack for the dramatic, tallying two game-winners this season, including an overtime goal against Ohio State.

“Spring season has helped me improve a lot,” Peirson said. “I’m more confident in what I can do this year.”

Published on September 24, 2002 at 12:00 pm