Syracuse’s double overtime bout against Louisville last Friday was a trademark scoreless draw. Both teams stayed compact in defense. A combined 46 fouls between the sides halted play constantly. Confident and, at times, acrobatic goalkeeping from SU’s Christian Miesch and Louisville’s Jake Gelnovatch kept the ball out of the net.

The first half of Tuesday night’s match between Syracuse and Cornell, particularly the opening five minutes, was the exact opposite. Less than two minutes in, poor marking from the Orange’s backline gave the Big Red’s striker George Pedlow a wide-open chance at the back post, which he buried. Ninety seconds later, Massimo Ferrin’s lofted cross from a long-range free kick somehow skidded into the goal.

Undisciplined defending or goalkeeping was at the center of all five goals as Syracuse (2-1-3, 0-0-1 Atlantic Coast) inched past Cornell (2-2), 3-2, in overtime on a clear Tuesday night at SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange fell behind twice and clawed back to even it both times before Noah Singelmann’s game-winner with three minutes remaining in the first overtime period.

“It was a poor start to the match against a very good team,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “But [it was] a great response. We came back twice and found a way to win the game.”

The victory snaps SU’s streak of three straight draws and marks the fourth consecutive game the Orange have gone to overtime.

Syracuse hadn’t yet advanced the ball past midfield when the visitors opened the scoring. When Cornell’s Harry Fuller gathered the ball in ample space on the right wing, nobody tracked Pedlow, the Big Red’s main striker, as he darted towards the back post. By the time SU center back Dylan McDonald noticed Pedlow’s run, the ball was already on its way to him. Moments later, it nestled in the bottom right corner of the net. 

Before 90 seconds had passed, the Orange were level. Ryan Raposo won a free kick roughly 35 yards from the goal, a distance Ferrin usually doesn’t shoot from. The senior forward opted to loop a cross toward the back post in hopes of a teammate heading it back across goal or into the net. Rather, the ball went untouched, bounced high off the ground and into the top right corner past an unprepared Cornell goalkeeper Ryan Shellow.

“If you can put good balls in dangerous areas, you’ve got a chance,” McIntyre said. “We were hoping somebody would get a touch. But it went in, it was an important goal.”

The game’s next goal came at the expense of another goalkeeping error, this time from Miesch. Cornell won a free kick from just inside the halfway point, Fuller launched it into the box and Miesch mistimed his move from the goal. The SU goalkeeper rose to catch the ball but instead punched it to the ground. It fell to Cornell’s Ryan Bayne, who poked it through a flurry of players and into an empty net.

“I was going to come out for sure. My idea was to catch the ball,” Miesch said. “I should have punched it. Looking back at it, it’s easy to say that now.”

Just as it did after Pedlow’s opener, the Orange responded strongly. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half, SU’s Simon Triantafillou chipped a ball into the box toward Raposo and Big Red midfielder Brandon Morales. 

The two 5-foot-7 technicians battled for position, and when the ball came, Raposo was on top. SU’s leading goals corer towered over the back of Morales, sending him to the floor, and nodded the ball to Severin Soerlie. The SU forward took a touch, turned, and laced the ball into the net for his first goal of the season. 

After a scoreless second half and opening five minutes of the first overtime, Singelmann, who has started three games at center back this season, notched the winner. Senior John-Austin Ricks found the freshman wide-open and in an advanced position from a throw-in, Singelmann drove into the penalty area one-on-one against a Cornell defender, side-stepped, and slotted the game-ending strike into the bottom left corner. The goal was his first-ever for the Orange.

“Noah showed he has quality,” McIntyre said. “When the game opened up a bit, he showed he could influence the game. To finish with his non-dominant left foot was a reward.”

Published on September 17, 2019 at 11:04 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu