Virginia Tech’s Murielle Tiernan received a through ball from teammate Laila Gray, got behind the Syracuse defense and shot the ball into the lower left corner of the goal.

Four minutes later, Tiernan won a loose ball with her back to the goal after a scrum at the top of the Orange’s box, spun around and scored again.

SU trailed by two, but it was only the beginning.

Syracuse (5-9-3, 2-6 Atlantic Coast) went on to surrender two more first-half goals in its 5-0 loss to the No. 14 Hokies (14-4, 4-4 ACC) on Thursday night in front of 233 at SU Soccer Stadium. The loss eliminated the Orange’s already slender chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament, one of the team’s preseason goals, and SU has now lost five of its last six games.

Though head coach Phil Wheddon said he was proud of his team for its second half performance, the five-goal loss is the Orange’s biggest defeat of the season.

“It just came down to those small individual moments,” Wheddon said. “Sometimes a lack of focus, sometimes it’s a communication aspect and sometimes it’s not knowing who to pick up.”

Entering the game, SU’s defenders were aware that Tiernan is a dangerous player Wheddon said, but the defense’s breakdowns were the difference in the game.

They piled up fast.

“Giving up the first goal isn’t bad,” freshman midfielder Jessica Vigna said. “It’s when the team gives up the first one and then the second one comes really quickly then it’s just they’re getting momentum and we need to get a goal to get it back.”

But Syracuse never scored.

Junior defender Taylor Haenlin said she knew Tiernan’s tendency to spin her body with her first touch, but Tiernan still found the back of the net twice against the Orange. Haenlin said it wasn’t a terrible overall game for SU, the first half lapses cost Syracuse.

“We really just need to focus the whole 90 minutes and don’t let up at all,” Haenlin said.

The Orange’s breakdowns were a function of the entire team’s defense, not just the back line. Virginia Tech continually sent passes in the air from its defense to its forwards.

The Hokies’ third goal came off a cross into the box from near the halfway line. Shannon Mayrose headed the ball across the face of the goal to teammate Candace Cephers at the six-yard box who banged the ball right past Syracuse goalie Courtney Brosnan in the 25th minute.

“What we wanted to do was deny their service,” Wheddon said. “That means our forwards had to be the first line of defense and at times in the first half, that let us down.”

Eleven minutes later, VT scored off a corner kick. The high, looping pass entered Syracuse’s 18-yard box and was popped back into the air. With her back to the goal, Mayrose turned and flicked it into the net.

With Virginia Tech’s goals coming in a variety of ways, there was no singular specific defensive issue that glared for Syracuse, but Vigna said overall team defense could be improved.

VT’s last goal — a penalty kick in the game’s final minute — was just window dressing. The game was lost by Syracuse in the first half.

“We had four letdowns in the first half,” Wheddon said. “Four lapses of concentration inside the goal area. This league is just so unforgiving. You can’t give a team those types of chances.”

Published on October 24, 2014 at 1:30 am

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds