Men’s Soccer Locks Down Binghamton, Wins 3-1
By: Nick Kuzma- CitrusTV Men’s Soccer Beat Reporter
The Syracuse Men’s Soccer team (1-1, Atlantic Coast 0-0) knew what it was in for heading into Monday’s match against Binghamton (1-1, America East 0-0).
“Binghamton is a good team that is well-coached,” Syracuse Head Coach Ian McIntyre said. “They play a certain style of play that makes life very uncomfortable for teams.”
Coming into the contest, SU had already dropped its season opener to No. 13 Georgetown in Washington, D.C. on Friday afternoon. A loss to the Bearcats would make for a disastrous start to McIntyre’s 10th season as Syracuse’s head coach.
Binghamton played a physical brand of soccer, and the Orange responded, which resulted in 18 total fouls, nine for each team. Also, seven caution yellow cards were handed out, three for Syracuse and four for Binghamton.
However, SU was prepared. In the team’s match against Georgetown, there were 21 fouls and five caution yellow cards given out. Therefore, SU knew the kind of opponent and battle they were about to face.
“We had to roll our sleeves up tonight. We knew that going in, said McIntyre. “We knew we had to embrace that physical challenge, and I thought we were very good.”
The Bearcats physicality certainly affected the Orange in the goal column, as the Orange could only convert three goals on a very impressive 12 shots on goal. However, Binghamton could not seem to penetrate the Syracuse defense with consistency. SU limited the Bearcats to just three total shots on goal, only one of which was converted by Parker McKnight in the 18th minute.
“It’s a big confidence boost,” SU Forward Massimo Ferrin said of the defense. “You know, we trust everybody back there.”
Ferrin tallied the first goal of the game for the Orange, to tie the game 1-1 in the 23rd minute. It was the team’s first non-penalty kick goal of the year.
Another boon to the SU defensive effort came in the form of Goalkeeper Jake Leahy. The redshirt junior gave up the first goal of the game, but then shut the door and made two saves; securing Leahy’s first career start and win.
Now, the Orange can stay on campus this week. Ivy League member Yale comes to face the squad on Friday.
The Bulldogs were a middle of the road team last year, finishing 7-6-3, however, posted a winning record on the road. Yale has yet to kick off its season, making Syracuse the Bulldog’s first test of the season.
“Our mindset’s always going to be the same whether it’s Yale or any ACC team,” said SU Midfielder Ryan Raposo, when asked about the upcoming match with the Bulldogs. “We’re gonna go out there and fight and try and win the game.”
The direct yet straightforward attitude of playing hard no matter the opponent was certainly noticeable in the play of the SU defense last night. If the Orange maintain that mindset against Yale, who averaged under two goals per game against non-conference opponents in 2018, SU could be on the verge of win number two. Kickoff is set for 7 o’clock at SU Soccer Stadium.
npkuzma@syr.edu | @nkuz71
