For much of the past several weeks, the theory surrounding the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team’s slow start has been centered on three things. The team is currently on the longest road trip in program history. Its roster has fewer senior leaders than a season ago. And the team has played four games against top 15 opponents — all losses.

All are valid concerns. And for the 2-4 Orange, simply being aware of these issues is no longer the point. The team needs to make adjustments and save this season before it gets too late.

But it doesn’t get easier in the immediate future. Syracuse plays its fourth game of six straight on the road at No. 2 Northwestern (7-0) on Wednesday.

‘We got some work to do,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said. ‘We’re not a top four program yet. And we’re young. That’s the No. 1 thing — that we need to mature.’

First, Syracuse is a young team still trying to find its identity. When SU played Northwestern last year, it scored 16.6 goals and gave up 8.6 goals per game through its first five games of the season. This year, those numbers are 11.2 and 12.3, respectively, through its first six. Gone are high-scoring seniors Halley Quillinan and Christina Dove, who will be replaced by freshmen Katie Webster and Alyssa Murray, with a big contribution from sophomore Michelle Tumolo.

Although the 20 freshmen and sophomores in 2010 are comparable with the 18 in 2011 — and although Webster and Murray are still among the team’s leading goal scorers — the transition from upperclass to underclass midfielders is still a work in progress.

Midfielders are looked to as players who can control a game. So to put first-year players in that position, an adjustment period — along with some frustration — is expected.

‘Hopefully we’re gaining valuable experiences from these games that are going to help us out when we move on to the second half of our season,’ Gait said.

The second half of the season is one in which the Orange will spend more time at home as well. Syracuse has played a bevy of road games, with just two inside the Carrier Dome more than one-third of the way through the season.

Part of the rationale behind that is improving scheduling, a necessary step for a team with national championship aspirations. Wednesday’s game in Evanston, Ill., comes after separate trips to Florida and Maryland for three games. Two of those contests were against Top 10 teams.

But the Orange has gone on the road for at least four consecutive games three other times since the program began 13 years ago (1998, 2005 and 2007). In those previous road stints, Syracuse tallied a combined record of 9-3 — much better than the current season’s mark of 1-2 through the first three road games of the six-game stretch.

Besides, SU’s schedule has been more uneven than unbalanced. Following this long stretch away from home, the Orange will play five of six in the Dome.

‘It’s definitely an advantage for us, unity-wise,’ senior goaltender Liz Hogan said. ‘But we have to get our legs back underneath us. It is a long road trip. It’s not all fun.’

In addition to a tough schedule from a traveling standpoint, Syracuse has not faced the easiest of opponents. Northwestern will be SU’s third road opponent within the Top 10.

Compared to other Big East teams, Syracuse is not alone, though. Notre Dame has played two Top 10 opponents in Stanford and Northwestern, and Georgetown has played all five of its games against some of the country’s best (Northwestern, Florida, Duke, Johns Hopkins and North Carolina).

That’s just one more reason the Orange needs to improve quickly to be able to challenge for the Big East title. With conference matchups less than a week away, these next few games could give SU an opportunity to turn the corner.

What’s important now is taking action.

‘I know we have losses on the board, but we took Maryland and we only lost by two,’ Tumolo said. ‘So we need to keep our heads up. We can still fight back. We can still turn this thing around. We keep telling ourselves that, so now we need to do it.’

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Published on March 22, 2011 at 12:00 pm