As Syracuse’s first three substitutes of the night waited at the midfield for the ball to go out of play, the sole senior of the group — Severin Soerlie — took a step back, turned around and faced the bleachers. Soerlie swung each leg back-and-forth, looked at the ground for a moment and took a deep breath. He was about to enter his last ever regular season game at SU Soccer Stadium.

Less than a minute after stepping into the game, Soerlie gathered the ball and drove down the center of the field. The senior fed Luther Archimede, another recent substitute, who barely saved a through ball from crossing over the end line and fed it into a scrum of players in the six-yard box. Emerging from the cluster was Soerlie, who dashed in front of two North Carolina State defenders to poke it into the net for the opening score.

“I was ready to get into the game and hopefully change the game,” Soerlie said. “Being at the box is where I’m best at. I got my opportunity and took it.”

Soerlie’s aggression in the buildup and his finish to score embodied everything Syracuse (7-4-4, 2-3-2 Atlantic Coast) did right in its 3-0 win over No. 23 NC State (8-4-3, 3-3-1) on Saturday night. The Orange earned their fourth win in their last five matches and second over a ranked opponent this season. The victory also keeps SU’s chances of hosting a first-round ACC tournament game alive.

After conceding seven goals against then-No. 8 Clemson last Saturday, Syracuse’s “egos were humbled” and it “needed a clean sheet” against the Wolfpack, head coach Ian McIntyre said. Center back Nyal Higgins added that the Clemson game “motivated them a lot” to record a shutout. 

“It starts from having the ability and the willingness of your front guys to put pressure on the ball,” McIntyre said. “We contested those first balls, picked up scraps and then had the ability and courage to go play.”

The Orange controlled possession early and tallied the first two chances of the game. First, midfielder Amferny Sinclair set up a wide-open Sondre Norheim at the top of the box but the defender accidentally nicked the ball with his left foot before whiffing it with his right. Four minutes later, Julio Fulcar swung a cross to Ryan Raposo, whose looping header nestled on top of the goal’s netting. 

Throughout the first half, SU showed aggression without the ball and composure with it. When the Wolfpack sent a ball into their attacking half, they were almost always met by a Syracuse defender. The defensive partnership of Norheim, Higgins and Dylan McDonald constantly got in front of NC State’s attackers before they could touch the ball to win possession back for the Orange. 

The SU backline and midfield was just as dominant in the air. None of the Wolfpack’s three starting forwards stood taller than 5-foot-7, so Norheim (6-foot-4), McDonald and Higgins (both 6-foot-2) towered over attackers to win headers all night. When one of NC State’s shifty attackers got on the ball, two SU players would instantly swarm him.

“We had to give them no time or space on the ball,” Higgins said. “Last week against Clemson, we didn’t do that. We stepped it up tonight.”

On several occasions, Syracuse’s tenacious defensive efforts led directly to a scoring chance. John-Austin Ricks intercepted a pass intended for the Wolfpack’s David Loera with 19 minutes left in the first half and promptly sent at through ball to Massimo Ferrin, whose shot sailed wide. Nine minutes later, Sinclair and Ferrin closed down and won the ball from Loera in NC State’s defensive half to set up a Raposo shot.

After withstanding a spell of pressure from NC State to open the second half, Syracuse showed its attacking quality to ensure three points. With just under a half-hour remaining, Raposo notched his 12th goal of the season when Hilli Goldhar found the Ontario native in ample space 20 yards from goal. He set the ball to his right foot and curled it toward the top right corner to the bottom end of the crossbar and into the net. 

Four minutes later, Sinclair one-upped Raposo with the first goal of his SU career. The ball deflected off an NC State defender in the penalty area and straight to an oncoming Sinclair, who struck it on the half-volley. The freshman’s shot rocketed into the top left corner, causing the SU bench to jump to their feet and run to the corner to join the celebrations. 

“We keep Amferny as far away from the goal for a reason. Now, we may have to second guess that,” McIntyre said. “I’m not sure we’ve seen a better hit or more sweet of a drive than that.”

Rather than allowing NC State to scrape its way back into the game, Syracuse kept the same intensity it had in the first half through to the final whistle. Its defeat to Clemson was on McIntyre’s and the players’ minds, and a clean sheet against a ranked opponent would be a proper response to what was called an “embarrassment.”

In the end, Syracuse did its final home game of the regular season what it’s struggled to do all year — dominate a ranked team. 

“The whole team worked extremely hard today,” Soerlie said. “(Defensively), we worked together as a unit.”

Published on October 26, 2019 at 9:10 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu