WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The solution to Syracuse’s dull offense lay in a trio of newcomers that, as of last Friday, had not contributed more than a couple of assists to the Orange’s scoring.

Sergio Camargo, who hadn’t scored all year until Friday’s game-winner, struck first. Then, Tuesday night, two freshmen jumpstarted a recently struggling offense.

Sharp passes and a new look revived Syracuse. First-career goals by John-Austin Ricks and Mo Adams provided the spark in No. 6 Syracuse’s (10-3-2, 3-2-1 Atlantic Coast) 2-0 victory over Hartford (5-7-3, 1-1-2) on Yousuf Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium. It was an offensive resurgence for Syracuse, which scored multiple goals for the first time since Sept. 20.

“We had a very disappointed locker room a couple weeks ago in Albany,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said, referencing SU’s upset loss 14 days ago. “They’ve kept that one bottled away and it was important it didn’t happen again.”

In an effort to freshen the offense, Syracuse traveled to Hartford a day earlier than it normally would. The last time SU traveled on the day of a midweek game — the Albany loss on Oct. 4 — it came out flat. When SU arrived Monday, it focused on generating shots and low passes to prepare for Alumni Stadium’s bouncy turf.

Before the game, McIntyre asked players to shoot early. He asked them to attack spaces. And he asked them to penetrate the defense via short passes. The Orange listened, tallying 10 corner kicks in the first half alone.

Syracuse’s incessant attack resulted from a variety of methods, many of which came centered around speed and precision. Oyvind Alseth mapped out his options all night. Jonathan Hagman and Chris Nanco pushed the tempo early. Players opted for short deliveries, two-to-three at a time, rather than long balls in the air.

Finally, in the 42nd minute, an unassisted Ricks header fluttered into the left side of the net. The goal, off of SU’s 10th and last corner of the night, gave the Orange a 1-0 halftime lead.

“It’s what we needed,” Ricks said. “It gave us that front foot going into the second half.”

In games the Orange notches two or more goals, it’s 8-0. In games the Orange has scored in the first half, it’s 7-1. Both happened on the heels of a much-needed victory over then-No. 15 Virginia Tech last Friday, when SU snapped a four-game winless streak.

Minutes out of the break, Adams uncorked a liner from more than 30 yards out. The score, as did so many other SU quality shots, came as a result of diagonal passes form the wing. Adams’ first-ever Syracuse goal was a bullet into the top left corner, muting a packed Alumni Stadium.

“The boys were telling me it’s got to come very soon,” Adams said with a smile. “You can’t go the whole season without scoring. Some of the boys were saying tonight might be the night. Thankfully, it was.”

One of the Hawks’ only threats came early in the first half on a give-and-go near the 18-yard box. Back-to-back nifty passes created an open space for Kelechi Akujobi to the right of the goal. But Louis Cross came chasing down from 15 yards away to stop the Hartford defender and clear it out to midfield.

Hartford mustered only one shot all night against Syracuse’s stifling defense.

“Before the game coach was saying we’re a brick wall,” Ricks said. “That’s exactly what we were trying to be. And we did that.”

Syracuse has two games left — at No. 8 Clemson in less than 72 hours for a rematch of last year’s national semifinal and home against No. 2 Wake Forest the following week — to try to fully repair the damage that was its midseason slide.

Minutes after the game, Syracuse players joked with Adams about his first career goal. They waved shirts in the air, giggling partly at the dominating performance they had just put on, and partly at their freshman defender’s breakthrough.

“Finally Mo scores a goal,” a player called out.

The quip was followed by more laughs, a few hugs and assurance that Syracuse is back on track.

Published on October 18, 2016 at 9:21 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21