LeMoyne?? The Shocks and Surprises from the Last Three Matches for Syracuse Men’s Soccer
By Josh Richardson | @joshrichy_04
After its three wins in exhibition play to begin the year before the regular season went underway, Syracuse Men’s Soccer held the 25th ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Orange battled a thriller down in Hamilton and came away with a 1-0 victory against Colgate in the season opener. SU followed it up with a dominating 3-0 win vs. Niagara three days later. Everything was great. Syracuse MSOC is back….. until it wasn’t. Ian McIntyre’s group has gone winless in three matches since August 25th. So what happened? Where does the ‘Cuse go from here? Let’s find out
The Last 11 Days
After beating Niagara, Syracuse jumped all the way up to 7th in the poll. An 18-spot jump for beating two unranked opponents. The next match was the following Thursday when SU drew Charlotte 2-2. McIntyre was raving about the 49ers after the Niagara contest, saying how Charlotte is “a phenomenal program.” Coach Mac discussed Charlotte’s size and physicality to be a problem for the Orange; A team that has 13 rostered freshmen, the highest number of any graduating class.
Even with the draw, Syracuse remained undefeated heading into the Salt City Showdown between SU and LeMoyne. The Dolphins, who just moved up into NCAA Division I at the start of last season, shocked the Orange 1-0. That loss plummeted the ‘Cuse 13 spots down to 20th. A frustrating loss is an understatement for Syracuse. A first-half penalty in the box by freshman defenseman Chimere Omeze caused the score. It was a match that the Orange should have won on paper. 28 shots compared to 5. 8-2 in shots on goal. 7 more corner kicks and 7 less penalties. SU just couldn’t find the back of the net.
Nevertheless, the Orange had to charge into their match vs. Boston College this past Friday with their heads held high, and after the first 43 seconds, it looked like SU was back in the win column. Midfielder Gabe Threadgold scored after a Michael Acquah assist and put Syracuse on top early. The good news about scoring early: You get to play from in front and more in control. The bad news about scoring early: It gives your opponent all the time in the world to try to equalize. The Eagles scored in the 22nd minute from Michael Asare and it remained tied for the last 68 minutes. The draw extended SU’s winless streak playing at BC up to 9 matches in 25 years (0-7-2).
