Women's Soccer

Syracuse falls to Cincinnati on 3 unanswered Bearcats goals in 2nd half

By Liam SullivanStaff Writer

A little more than three minutes after halftime, Megan Cravenor scored a penalty kick for Cincinnati. And the Bearcats never looked back.

Cincinnati (6-2-2) defeated Syracuse (3-4-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast), 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati. After a scoreless first half, the Orange allowed three unanswered goals in the second half before Stephanie Skilton notched her sixth goal of the season.

“We felt quite comfortable going into the second half,” SU head coach Phil Wheddon said. “Then we just fell apart a little bit.”

Fifteen minutes after Cravenor’s goal, Cincinnati scored twice in quick succession. In the 64th minute, Danielle Rotheram collected the ball and scored off a rebound from Taylor Jackson’s blocked header. In the 66th minute, Vanessa Gilles headed in Cincinnati’s third goal of the game on an assist from Jae Atkinson.

Wheddon said his team had problems marking Cincinnati’s attackers on corner kicks.



Syracuse was only able to get off one shot in the first half and five total shots for the entire game.

“We have to do a little bit of soul searching,” said Wheddon. “It wasn’t a case of not finishing today, it was a case of not creating enough opportunities.”

SU’s lone goal came from Skilton, when she collected a rebound off of Maddie Damm’s missed shot from about 30 yards out. The ball ricocheted off the crossbar, Skilton sprinted past several Cincinnati defenders to get the ball and score, Wheddon said.

Skilton leads the team in goals with six. Her goal Sunday gives her 15 in her career and moves her into a tie for seventh place in the school’s all-time rankings.

Syracuse will end a span of seven straight road games when it returns to ACC play Thursday night against Miami in Coral Gables, Florida at 7 p.m.

“The reason why we’ve spent so much time on the road is so our players can get used to playing in hostile environments,” said Wheddon. “Obviously though, to play at home in front of our fans is something to look forward to.”





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