HAMILTON, N.Y. — As field temperatures approached triple digits at Beyer-Small ’76 Field, Syracuse’s depth was tested.

It came through for the Orange (2-1-2), though, as SU pressed and subbed heavily in its 4-0 victory over UMass-Lowell (2-3) Friday in the Colgate Nike Classic.

“Our game was to press them 100 percent as long as we could,” SU midfielder Emma Firenze said. “Our coaches said we were going to rotate a lot of players to keep the pace.”

Firenze was one of seven players to come off the bench in the first half as she joined forward Maya Pitts at the forefront of SU’s four-goal outing. Pitts registered four shots and used her speed and agility to stretch the UMass-Lowell back line while fellow strikers Alexis Koval and Sheridan Street each came off the bench and recorded a shot.

Pitts entered the match for Alex Lamontagne at 20:40 of the first half and immediately took hold. On the first offensive possession after she entered, Pitts rushed down the left wing and sent a through ball for Firenze that skimmed just out of reach.

“We had to get fresh legs in. I think the bench did a really good job coming in and making an impact,” Pitts said. “We definitely had the space to shoot, so if I saw I had an open shot, I wanted to take it. There were just so many shots open that we had to take our advantages.”

At 23:57, Pitts took a shot from straight on that was turned aside by River Hawks’ goalkeeper Jill Carlson. Three minutes later – one minute before Jackie Firenze scored to make it 1-0 – Pitts took another shot that sailed wide.

“She gives us something that we don’t have in other spots,” head coach Phil Wheddon said of Pitts. “She’s strong, powerful, she looks for the goal. She’s hungry to score.”

Because of the heat, after Firenze’s goal, the referees chose to take a water break. But after the short break, Syracuse couldn’t muster much production in the final third. Especially in the final ten minutes of the half, SU couldn’t connect on any combination plays.

But Syracuse took full advantage of the halftime break. The Orange didn’t come onto the field until the halftime clock hit 0:00, and didn’t come off its bench until the referee blew his air horn twice.

“You really have to play feet and try to get your breath when you can, and when you do get subbed off, hydrate,” Pitts said. “In the second half I think we all came out hydrated and refreshed and came out strong.”

In the first five minutes of the second half, SU forward Stephanie Skilton scored twice, putting the game out of reach.

SU didn’t make any substitutions before Lamontagne’s goal to extend the lead to 4-0. Emma Firenze and Pitts came on in the 66th and 71st minutes, respectively, and Koval came on to relieve Skilton with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Syracuse’s bench recorded 26 percent of the shots the team took and gave its starters much-needed breathers in the first half.

“We had to be sensible on a very, very hot day to rotate those players to make sure we have some energy left for Sunday’s game (against Vermont at 11 a.m.),” Wheddon said. “And all of our players know they’re going to contribute at some point.”

Published on September 5, 2014 at 7:49 pm

Contact Josh: [email protected]