FH : Syracuse focused on winning Big East in midst of ACC move
Ange Bradley called Syracuse University’s impending move to the Atlantic Coast Conference a distraction.
The SU head coach is focused on leading her team to a Big East championship this season. And Bradley said she wants her players focused on the 2011 competition rather than worrying about a change that won’t take place until the majority of the team has graduated.
‘It’s a distraction,’ Bradley said. ‘It’s the future. And in sport, if you think of anything beyond the moment, you’re not going to get where you need to be.’
But once the 27-month waiting period does roll around, Bradley and No. 5 Syracuse will face a much tougher in-conference schedule. The Orange (5-2, 1-0 Big East) has competed against many ACC schools in recent years, including matches this season against No. 1 North Carolina and Wake Forest. However, competing with these teams every year and facing them in the postseason conference tournament will be a new challenge.
For now, Bradley is locked in on this weekend’s slate of games. The Orange has a conference game at Louisville (6-2, 1-0 Big East) on Friday before returning home Sunday to play host to Boston University (4-3, 0-0 America East).
Bradley’s reaction did not pertain to what the move will do on the field for the Orange in the future. Rather, she said she was glad SU was making one of the initial moves in the re-landscaping of college sports. That’s better than waiting and possibly being forced into a situation in which the university does not have full control.
‘It’s something that is clearly great for our university academically, athletically and I applaud the visionary method of (Athletic Director) Dr. (Daryl) Gross and (Chancellor) Nancy Cantor for being proactive and not reactive,’ Bradley said.
Earlier this season, Syracuse lost to the then-No. 2 Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C., a location and team the Orange will become increasingly familiar with in the future. SU assistant coach Steve Simpson was already accustomed to facing UNC, as he coached at Maryland from 1995-2003.
Coming from the ACC, Simpson said he isn’t worried about the increased competition and sees the Orange as a threat to the Tar Heels, just as much as the Tar Heels are a threat to SU
‘It’s no different than this year. We played them this year,’ Simpson said. ‘… They’re looking at us as being a quality opponent as well. It’s not like we’re just looking up, they’re looking up as well when they look at us.’
But in the Big East, every other team — excluding No. 4 Connecticut — is undoubtedly looking up at the Orange. Shifting conferences will mean more than playing UNC. It will mean playing the likes of No. 6 Boston College and No. 9 Duke every year, among other stronger, faster teams.
It will also end the dominance Syracuse has pressed on the Big East under Bradley. SU is 21-4 in the Big East in the four-plus years under its head coach, so it’s easy to see why moving to the ACC will harshly toughen up SU’s schedule.
The Orange has certainly held its own against ACC competition, defeating then-No. 1 Maryland in 2008 and Boston College in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA tournament. Overall, Syracuse is 4-4 against ACC opponents under Bradley.
‘It will be very interesting because there are a lot of very good teams there, and we’re a good team,’ Simpson said. ‘So it’s more sharks in the ocean.’
Freshman goalkeeper Sophia Openshaw is one of the four rookies on the team that will be at SU when the transfer occurs, assuming the 27-month wait is not shortened.
Openshaw grew up in Annapolis, Md., just 30 miles east of the Maryland’s campus in College Park. She understands the challenges presented by competing in the ACC and said she is ready to dive in headfirst.
‘In playing them every year, I’m pretty confident that we have what it takes to play in that conference,’ Openshaw said.
But 27 months is still a long ways away.
Bradley said she has not even spoken to her team about the conference change. She is more concerned with winning the Big East this season than competing in the ACC in the future.
‘I don’t really think about it right now,’ Bradley said. ‘I’m trying to win a Big East championship.’
Published on September 21, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1