Brittany Carriero came out of nowhere to make sure Massachusetts continued its road to nowhere.

Carriero scored on a rebound with 17 minutes left Friday, as Syracuse defeated UMass, 1-0, dropping the Minutewomen to 0-10. No. 19 Syracuse (6-5, 1-1 Big East) lost to Holy Cross, 3-1, on Sunday and travels to Ithaca to play Cornell tonight at 7.

In the UMass game, Carriero beat a defender to a rebound and put the game-winner past Christina Tocco.

“It was a defensive breakdown on their part,” Carriero said. “I just capitalized on it. It wasn’t anything special.”

But Carriero’s goal saved the Orangewomen from a potentially embarrassing loss.

“We knew either they were going to give up,” senior Michelle Marks said, “or they were going to do anything to beat us.”

UMass opted for the latter, holding Syracuse scoreless for more than 53 minutes. But SU converted on only one of its 17 shots.

Syracuse’s penalty corners were ineffective again as the Orangewomen converted none of their 10 opportunities.

“We’re not getting clean stops and clean hits,” SU head coach Kathleen Parker said. “We’re not shooting well, and we’re not exercising good options. Other than that, everything is fine.”

Parker has tried to jumpstart her stagnant offense, which scores 1.24 goals per game.

“We work on everything in practice,” Parker said. “Shooting, penalty corners. … If I had any answers, I would give them to you.”

Parker dismissed fatigue as a possible answer. Although SU plays its third game in five days tonight, Parker said the Orangewomen got more rest on the road trip this weekend than they had in the previous month.

Syracuse has proven its ability to play three games in six days, having won two of three in that span to open the season.

“Fatigue will be a problem if they let it be,” Parker said. “It’s all about their mentality. It’s just the way the schedule is. They should be used to it.”

But SU never adjusted to the absence of Kristin Aronowicz, going 1-1 in the two games she missed with a split left pinky. Aronowicz started against UMass and showed no ill effects from the injury.

“It doesn’t bother me anymore,” Aronowicz said. “It’s just wearing the (protective guard) that was annoying. I’ve gotten used to it in practice.”

“It was definitely nice to have her back,” Marks said. “She knows how to distribute the ball in the circle and brings a lot of experience.”

Parker downplayed Aronowicz’s return.

“She looked as good as anyone else did,” Parker said. “But the focus can’t be on her.”

Against Cornell tonight, SU should turn to Aronowicz. Last year she scored three times, including a penalty stroke five minutes into overtime, as SU beat the Big Red, 3-2.

Syracuse will try to repeat last year’s success, but given its recent offensive troubles, that may be tough.

“We would like to score early,” Parker said. “But ‘liking to’ and ‘doing’ are two different things. We need go to out and play with some passion.”

This and that

SU’s lone bright spot in its 3-1 loss to Holy Cross on Sunday came from sophomore Leah McKay, who notched her first career goal with less than four minutes remaining.

“Everyone used to say that I was afraid to score,” McKay said. “This year, I’m more comfortable taking the ball myself.”

Published on October 7, 2002 at 12:00 pm