Syracuse men’s soccer earns program’s first trip to NCAA quarterfinals
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Via Syracuse University) – No. 6 Syracuse will make its first appearance in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament quarterfinals after defeating No. 13 Seattle, 3-1, in the third round at the SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange will host Boston College, the last team to beat Syracuse, in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to the College Cup in Kansas City, Kansas.
“I’m sure both Seattle and Syracuse have played better soccer than today, but it was an exciting tournament game, like most of them are,” said Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre. “We’ve accomplished so much in such a short period of time. There were many questions asked of this group. We had a lot of turnover from last year. I couldn’t be happier or more proud of this group. Hopefully we still have some soccer left in us.”
The Orange offense was aggressive from the opening whistle and took the lead in the second minute of the game. Redshirt junior Liam Callahan served a corner kick into the box where freshman Miles Robinson scored on a header at the 1:30 mark. It is the earliest goal Syracuse has scored in a match this season.
Callahan’s play led to Syracuse’s second goal in the 20th minute. He played the ball into the box from the left side to senior Noah Rhynhart. Rhynhart put his shot past Seattle goalkeeper Shane Haworth as Syracuse took a 2-0 lead.
Freshman goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert made two saves and the Orange successfully defended against one Redhawk corner kick to keep Seattle off the scoreboard in the first half.
Syracuse (15-5-3) earned four corner kicks in the first 11 minutes of the second half, but couldn’t get off a shot. Senior Chris Nanco had a chance to add to the Orange’s lead in the 63rd minute, but his shot went just wide. Less than five minutes later, Seattle (18-4-1) cut the deficit in half when David Olsen took control of a loose ball in the box and scored for his 11th goal of the year.
The Orange answered in the 71st minute. Syracuse was awarded a free kick, which Buescher served into the box. Haworth got a hand on the ball but couldn’t gain control. The ball deflected to freshman Kamal Miller on the right side of the box. Miller settled the ball and fired a shot into the back of the net to once again give the Orange a two-goal advantage.
The Redhawks continued to press forward and test the Orange. Seattle produced two scoring chances but couldn’t get either on frame, before earning a corner kick in the 89th minute, which didn’t produce a shot. The Redhawks’ last chance came in the final minute, but Hilpert was there for the save to secure the victory and send the Orange to its first Elite Eight appearance.
Syracuse had 12 shots and seven corner kicks compared to Seattle’s 11 shots and three corners. Haworth made three saves for Seattle. Hilpert also had three saves as he and the Orange held Seattle, which ranks fourth in the nation in goals, to just one on the day.
“It was important for us to try to disrupt them and I think we did that for parts of the game,” McIntyre said. “We have a very hard-working, humble group. I thought they were terrific today. Seattle is a champion team and I’m delighted that we’re moving on.”
Syracuse will face a familiar foe in the quarterfinals in Boston College. The teams met in the regular-season finale on Oct. 30 in Newton. The Eagles scored twice in the first half and went on to a 2-1 victory.
