Ange Bradley almost never loses control. She conducts her 10 players on the field with precision. Coaches her players to shift left or right, according to where the ball is, but never out of position.

This is why the Syracuse head coach had such a hard time watching film immediately after the Orange’s loss to No. 9 Connecticut Saturday. If Bradley had watched the footage, she said it would have shown her team out of focus and too energized to control the game.

‘Some factors were beyond our control,’ said Bradley, about SU’s first loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat to the Huskies. Following the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking last week, Syracuse (15-1) dropped two spots to No. 3 on the STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Coaches Poll.

Bradley was still too mad to watch film when she woke up early Sunday morning. But she couldn’t escape some of the game’s moments.

‘There were certain things I kept seeing in my head at 4 o’ clock in the morning that I know has to be fixed,’ Bradley said. ‘Our ability to not move and our ability to transfer the ball and play the attack we like to play.’

On the stat sheet, Bradley’s team had won Saturday. The Orange shot more on goal, had more chances on penalty corners.

‘They did everything but put the goal in net,’ UConn head coach Nancy Stevens said.

Standing on the J.S. Coyne’s Stadium corner near the exit, Stevens held two stat sheets after Saturday’s game. She looked down at the sheet, then up at the scoreboard.

She was reminded of the Huskies’ 3-1 upset to Big East rival Louisville last month. The Huskies shot more on goal, had more chances on penalty corners.

‘We dominated statistically. We lost the game,’ Stevens said. ‘I know that’s very frustrating. Nine times out of 10, the team that does dominate statistically will win the game.’

Connecticut came out the next weekend and blew out Quinnipiac by a five-goal margin.

After watching film on Holy Cross early Sunday morning, Bradley coached her team to a 7-0 victory over the Crusaders.

‘I’ve been through many losses, and you know, it’s great to be undefeated,’ said Shannon Taylor, SU’s captain and starting midfielder. ‘But it’s good that we have the loss now rather than at the end of a tournament. You move on, you learn from it. It’s just like a mistake.’

Bradley laughed Sunday afternoon when she recalled how mad she was. But she wasn’t upset about the undefeated streak that came to an end Saturday.

‘If you think about it as a streak it just gets bigger. It’s like one giant snowball that keeps on rolling and rolling and eventually it’ll run you over.’ Bradley said. ‘That’s not how we think. We focus on one at a time, and being in the moment. It’s all about what’s next.’

There was no mention of UConn’s game at Tuesday’s practice, and the team has yet to watch the film. The Orange has moved on, Lena Voelmle said.

‘It’s going to be a different outcome next time,’ she said.

The Orange will play its final home games Friday and Sunday as the highest-ranked team in the Big East. Following the season’s end Nov. 1 against No. 20 Rutgers, Syracuse will most likely travel to the Storrs, Conn., for the Big East championship.

‘Anytime you work so hard and you don’t reach your goal, it stinks,’ Bradley said. ‘But I know they can do it. I trust them with my life.’

edpaik@syr.edu

Published on October 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm