Siena midfielder Joey Tavernese grabbed the ball on the right sideline. He was about 30 yards out from the Syracuse goal line. He stepped back to take a throw in. And then he stepped back a few more times.

He began to skip forward. Suddenly, he leaned down and touched the ball to the ground. His legs whipped over his head as he did a somersault with the ball in his hands. As Tavernese flipped over, he catapulted the ball into the middle of the field. It sailed directly to Falko Friedrichs, who headed it into the goal past the hesitating Syracuse goalie Jeremy Vuolo.

The goal gave Siena a two-goal lead, and the Saints would go on to win 5-1. Three of those five goals came on set plays. In addition to the score on the throw in, Siena was able to put in two corner kicks.

‘We conceded some soft goals on restart, and ultimately, we have to take responsibility to prevent them,’ Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said.

The first goal was also a header by Siena. Again, Vuolo made the wrong snap decision, only this time he went too far out of the goal as opposed to waiting back. The third set play goal ended with the ball coming out of a scrum in front of the goal and some miscommunication about coverage. In all three situations, however, Syracuse players neglected to take charge and step up to the ball.

There were no glaring reasons as to why all three goals scored. Little missteps were the downfall of the Orange on Wednesday — a slight hesitation on the part of Vuolo or unwillingness of a defender to go hard into a tackle in the box.

‘Little decisions, key decisions, at the wrong time, cost us today,’ SU defender Robbie Hughes said. ‘Communication a lot of the time, knowing who your man is, knowing who to mark. If someone’s going to go up and win the ball, if the keeper’s going to smash through everyone, just little things like that, really.’

Some of the miscommunication can be attributed to the fact that it was the team’s first game of the season, and its first game under McIntyre. Some of it stems from a bad practice the team had the day before the game.

But primarily, the players have to be more comfortable playing with each other to allow explosive play at the appropriate times.

‘They got to spaces before us,’ McIntyre said. ‘We’ve got to do a better job of not allowing players to get across us ultimately.’

SU will go into its next few days of practice with a clear idea of what needs to be done better. At the most basic level, the team needs to keep set plays from scoring. But beyond that, it needs to also try to keep its opponents from getting set play opportunities.

‘We need to be a little bit more aggressive in getting across our men. And me, personally, I just need to come out and make a better decision on those,’ Vuolo said. ‘So I think we just need to get some repetition in. Tomorrow, we’ll work a lot on set pieces and Friday, so just repetition and getting disciplined in how we’re marking.’

Syracuse’s personnel have been shaken up since its 3-15 season last year, and the focus is returning to quality of play as opposed to team politics. McIntyre wants his players to commit to tackles, something the team struggled with against Siena.

He wants the players to develop a confidence that will keep them in the game in set play situations.

‘Ultimately there is a mentality of saying, ‘The guy that I’m marking won’t score,” McIntyre said. ‘It’s not just about physical ability, but it’s that willingness to get there first.’

alguggen@syr.edu