Woodruff Scores Twice; Orange Rolls To Shutout In BIG EAST Opener

Friday, September 21

SU Soccer Stadium

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Pittsburgh

Hansen Woodruff netted his fifth and sixth goals of the season Friday against Pittsburgh.

Woodruff Scores Twice; Orange Rolls To Shutout In BIG EAST Opener

9/21/2007 10:05:43 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men’s soccer team (4-0-3, 1-0-0) remained unbeaten with a 2-0 shutout versus Pittsburgh (1-5-1, 0-1-0) in its BIG EAST opener on Friday, Sept. 21 in front of 967 fans at the SU Soccer Stadium. Sophomore forward Hansen Woodruff (Stuart, Fla.) continued his stellar play, scoring both goals in the match. He has at least one goal in each of the last three games and leads the club with six on the season.

Syracuse’s unbeaten start is its best since 1986 when the Orange went 6-0-1 to open the year. The win also marks the first time since 2002 SU has started conference play 1-0.

Woodruff broke a scoreless tie in the 68^th minute when he found the upper right corner of the Panthers’ net off a free kick, bending one around the Pittsburgh wall. He sealed the victory with 3:59 remaining the contest, slipping a defender and driving a low shot past goalkeeper Jordan Marks for his second score. The goal was set up by sophomore Luis Martinez (Morristown, N.J.), who sent a great ball from deep in the SU end of the field that Woodruff gathered in stride. It was Martinez’s first assist of the year.

“He’s got a knack for scoring goals,” head coach Dean Foti said off Woodruff. “He got one tonight on a free kick. He’s headed them in. Beat guys one-on-one. That’s just what he does – he scores.”

Ironically, it was the Panthers that got the best opportunity to grab the lead in the match, but Ryan Brode’s volley with 25 minutes left in the second half ricocheted off the cross bar. The Orange cleared the rebound and seized the momentum less than three minutes later of Woodruff’s first tally.

“Every game in the BIG EAST is a grind,” Foti said. “They hit a crossbar. We convert on a free kick and we go from there. That’s just how it is in this league. It’s never easy, but this team is playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

SU junior goalkeeper Robert Cavicchia (North York, Ontario) made four saves to earn his second consecutive shutout. It was the 12^th blanking of his career, tying him with Steve Pollnow for sixth on SU’s career list.

Marks played all 90 minutes in goal and made three saves for the Panthers. Three different Pittsburgh players paced the team’s offense with two shots each.

The Orange will look to carry its momentum into Sunday when it hosts one of the top teams in college soccer. Syracuse will play its first ranked opponent of the season when #5/7 West Virginia visits the SU Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is 1 p.m.