Severin Soerlie was offside and ready to be halted by the referee’s whistle. With three minutes remaining in the first half, he had just received a deflected through ball from John-Austin Ricks. The senior quickly looked at the center referee, then the assistant. There was no whistle or flag.

When Soerlie realized the play wasn’t going to be stopped, his eyes shot back toward the goal. The arms of Rhode Island defenders shot up, protesting for offside. Meanwhile, Soerlie sped up, took a glance to his left and at Ryan Raposo before squaring it to SU’s leading goal-scorer for a tap-in. After falling behind, the Orange were up a goal just over 12 minutes later.

“(Head coach Ian McIntyre) has been getting on our case about getting in the box, so I knew when (Soerlie) was through I had to make that run there and give him an option,” Raposo said.

It was one of the few times Syracuse (8-6-5, 2-4-2 Atlantic Coast) got behind Rhode Island’s (14-4-3, 7-1 Atlantic 10) defense in a 3-2 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday night at SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange registered eight shots (four on goal), well below its season average of 14.5 per game. SU didn’t create as many chances as it would have liked, Raposo said, but it was clinical in the right moments. 

“We were good in front of net,” Raposo said. “On a better day, we could have created more chances, more goals, more opportunities. But at the end of the day, we got the job done.”

Coming into Tuesday’s matchup, the Rams hadn’t lost since Sept. 28 against Saint Louis, finishing their season on an 11-game unbeaten run. They also conceded less than a goal per game. When Syracuse has faced other top defensive teams this season, it’s struggled. Georgetown, Yale and Virginia all rank in the top 10 in the nation for average goals against. 

On Thursday, the Rams showed why they are statistically one of the best defensive teams in the nation. But it didn’t matter. The visitors’ backline managed to match SU’s quick attacks through Raposo and Luther Archimede. Archimede, the lone striker at times, often received the ball all alone in the Orange’s attacking half only to be swarmed by several defenders and losing the ball.

“It’s my job,” Archimede said about holding the ball up. “When there’s a long ball and the team is way behind, I have to wait for them … then we can play soccer.”

Moments after SU fell behind in the 30th minute, it evened the score. The home team hardly had any set pieces from close range and hadn’t recorded a corner kick until Hilli Goldhar’s forward run earned one just two minutes after URI’s Filippo Tamburini opened the scoring. Raposo swung the ball in, Archimede found a pocket of space between defenders and side-footed it into the goal. Up to that point, SU had one shot on goal and had hardly tested Rams goalkeeper Stefan Schmidt.

In the second half, SU did have possession in its attacking half but had no counter-attacks or clear-cut chances for a half-hour. When the Rams equalized off another set piece with 20 minutes remaining, Syracuse decided to commit more resources forward.

“We were really stretched today,” McIntyre said. “We required a back four with Amferny (Sinclair) back there, and also trying to get pressure on the ball.”

When a joint defensive effort from Raposo and Simon Triantafillou won possession back in SU’s penalty area, Triantafillou launched the ball upfield toward Archimede. Archimede realized he wasn’t going to beat his man off the dribble, so he stopped to survey his options. He found Noah Singelmann with a cross-field pass, but the freshman’s shot was blocked. That was Syracuse’s second shot of the half, neither of which tested Schmidt, and there were 10 minutes left.

Six minutes later, Archimede’s fast reactions made the difference. He jolted in front of two URI defenders to get to Goldhar’s pass into the penalty area and was tripped by Charlie Booth. With four minutes left in the game, SU’s fate rested on Raposo’s right foot. The sophomore added to his perfect penalty record, sending Schmidt the wrong direction and putting the Orange ahead, 3-2. The penalty marked Syracuse’s only shot on target in the second half.

SU’s eight shots tied its lowest tally in a game this season, but its quality in the final third — whether it was Goldhar’s pass that let to the penalty or Soerlie’s awareness to give Raposo a tap-in — was the best it has been this season. That composure in the final third gave SU its first NCAA tournament win since 2016. Just two players on the current roster — Ricks and backup goalkeeper Jake Leahy — were on that team. 

“It’s difficult to win NCAA tournament games,” McIntyre said. “You’re playing against the best of the best, against conference champions or elite teams that have earned their spot. So I’m delighted for our group.”

Published on November 21, 2019 at 11:50 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu