Woodruff sets pace for SU’s struggling offensive attack
For the Syracuse men’s soccer team, the secret winning to games may be as simple as one thing: Hansen Woodruff finding the back of the net.
Forget the fact that the Syracuse men’s soccer team had been shutout in five of its last six games. Forget the fact that the Orange had averaged less than a goal per game on the season heading into its last game. Evidently, when Woodruff gets rolling, the team follows his lead.
‘He’s the playmaker,’ senior midfielder Kenny Caceros said. ‘We all look up to him to lead our team. Obviously, he’s our captain and he leads by example very well. When we see him playing well, it lifts everyone up and kind of brings everybody up to his level and carries us forward. That’s why we do well whenever he does well.’
The Orange (2-8, 1-4 Big East) improved its all-time record when Woodruff scores at least one goal to 14-6-3, in its 3-0 win over Rutgers Friday in Piscataway, N.J. That includes a 3-1 record in 2008, and a 2-1 mark thus far this season.
Woodruff’s goal against the Scarlet Knights was the 25th of the senior captain’s career, placing him in a three-way tie with Jamie Shannon (1992-95) and Jeff Knittel (1995-98) for ninth place on SU’s career scoring list.
‘It helps any team anytime anyone scores,’ Woodruff said. ‘The team looks for me to find the net, and when I’m able to do that, I think it inspires other players to play better.’
Against Rutgers, senior forward Tom Perevegyencev got the Orange on the board early with SU’s first goal in four games. But about two minutes later, Woodruff furthered the Orange’s advantage with a goal of his own, putting Syracuse ahead, 2-0, midway through the first half.
Prior to Woodruff’s goal, the senior forward hadn’t scored since Sept. 5 – a stretch of seven consecutive losses for the Orange.
Perhaps that’s because, as sophomore midfielder Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin said, Woodruff’s ability to score gives the Orange more than just numbers in the box score.
‘His leadership motivates us and keep us going,’ Chan-Yu-Tin said. ‘When he’s scoring, it gives us the rest of us confidence to play well.’
Perhaps that’s why the Orange was able to break through on Friday and bring its losing streak to a halt. Syracuse head coach Dean Foti had been looking for someone – anyone – to find the back of the net in each of SU’s past seven games.
It’s no wonder that Woodruff was one of the three who did so against Rutgers.
‘When I start creating opportunities, and scoring goals myself, the defense starts to mark me more and it opens up opportunities for other people to score, which in turn opens up even more opportunities,’ he said. ‘Pretty soon everybody’s scoring.’
Woodruff has only scored in three of SU’s first 10 games, but the Orange has a winning record in those three games and is 0-7 when he’s held scoreless.
But those statistics are only game-to-game. They don’t even begin to explain what that scoring can do for a team’s collective confidence heading into future match-ups. For Woodruff and the Orange to break through against a Rutgers team, that was sitting atop the Red Division standings in the Big East, is likely to help their collective confidence heading into the rest of the season.
‘When you see a teammate do something right, it makes you want to follow,’ Woodruff said. ‘Whether it’s setting other teammates up for scoring opportunities, hustling, or scoring, that can change the attitude of the entire team.’
