Kyle Hall knows it’s the quality of his shots that matters, not the quantity. So nobody was surprised to see arguably the best goal scorer on the Syracuse men’s soccer team send only three balls toward the net in the first 50 minutes of Sunday’s game.

Choosing calculated calmness over wild aggressiveness, the junior forward remained patient for most of the match against Fordham. When the opportunities arose, Hall attacked and capitalized.

Three shots, two goals and the Orange would not look back.

Though the Rams outshot Syracuse, 10-7, Hall’s two scores led the Orange (3-0-3) to a 3-0 victory over Fordham (1-4) in its home opener at Syracuse Soccer Stadium in front of 361 fans.

It’s the best start for Syracuse since 1986, when SU did not lose in its first seven games and went 6-0-1 to start the season.

‘Kyle had a good day today finishing, and that’s really important,’ SU head coach Dean Foti said. ‘It really takes a lot of pressure off us, especially when he gets his first chance and puts that away. It really makes life a lot easier on the people on the back of the team.’

With the match scoreless 16 minutes into the first half, a Fordham player tried a lazy crossing pass around midfield. Hall intercepted the floating ball and started a breakaway.

Two Rams retreated in time but could not communicate quick enough to stop the solo attack. Rushing toward the net, Hall beat both defenders with some nifty dribbling and grounded one to the left side of the goal past Fordham goalkeeper Dan Hajducky.

Because of Hall’s speed, the Rams were unable to establish their defense, despite having a man advantage.

‘I tried to take it on because they weren’t really organized in the back,’ Hall said. ‘It was like, one, get by him, then the other. They really weren’t getting coverage with each other. So I made one quick move, stepped over, took it to the next guy, put it to the side and placed it.’

After sending a weak header directly to Hajducky later in the first half, Hall did not attempt another shot until after halftime.

Nine minutes after the break, Hall struck again. Hansen Woodruff led Hall with an accurate pass to the right of the box. From 25 feet away, Hall drove the ball into the lower left corner of the goal. It was his third goal of the season and Woodruff’s fourth assist.

A minute later, Woodruff added a goal of his own – his fourth of the season – to complete the scoring for Syracuse. Sophomore Tom Perevegyencev added the assist, the first of his Syracuse career.

Woodruff leads the team in every major offensive statistical category. His 12 points are five ahead of Hall’s total, which is second-most on the team. Last season as a freshman, Woodruff led the team in points (16) and goals (7).

After the third goal, Hall exited for the final 24 minutes. But his two goals were more than enough offense for Syracuse to secure a victory.

‘It’s huge when we get chances like that and we put them on goal,’ Woodruff said. ‘Especially Kyle, I think he had maybe two shots [sic] and they both go in. … You need to score if you want to win, and he did a great job today.’

The SU defense surrendered more shots to Fordham, but the Rams never had a legitimate scoring chance. Orange goalie Rob Cavicchia made six saves.

With the win, Syracuse snapped a streak of two consecutive draws. Still undefeated, the Orange is off to its best start in Foti’s 17 years as head coach.

But no matter how well Syracuse has played so far, the tough games start this week when the Orange begins its conference schedule against Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Last year, SU was 5-0 in non-conference play but went 2-8-1 against Big East opponents.

So while a 3-0 victory looks good on paper, Foti knows now is the time for his team to reach its full potential.

‘A win and a shutout is what we’re hoping of every game,’ Foti said. ‘We got that today and we’re happy with it, but the real season starts now.’

Published on September 16, 2007 at 12:00 pm