Syracuse flexes muscles in McIntyre’s 100th win with Orange
SU soccer scores seven in historic night
Syracuse beat a Division I opponent by 7 goals for the first time since 2018 on Tuesday night. SU’s historic 7-0 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats at SU Soccer Stadium coincided with head coach Ian Mcintyre’s 100th victory with the club.
With constant pressure, the Orange attacked from the opening kick and never let up. In his first collegiate start, freshman midfielder Curt Calov opened the scoring five minutes in on an assist from freshman midfielder Giona Leibold.
Not long after, the Orange lead blossomed to 3-0 after Calov netted his second goal of the match and reigning ACC Player of the Week Deandre Kerr found paydirt for his first of the game. Even with the early lead, McIntyre wanted more from his team.
“I told the guys at halftime that when you are dominating a game like this it is easy to play complacent and come out flat-footed,” McIntyre said.
SU answered McIntyre’s words and continued their goal-scoring onslaught just minutes into the second half. This time, senior forward Manel Busquets and freshman forward Francesco Pagano joined the fun as Busquets logged his first goal of the season and Pagano scored his first goal of his collegiate career.
The Orange dictated the tempo of play throughout the match. Junior transfer defender Buster Sjoberg said the team played as one unit in the historic win.
“It is always a wonderful thing to score that quickly,” Sjoberg said. “Another key for us was the cohesiveness of the group. Our forwards attacked open space and our backline communicated well and broke down angles for the other team.”
Having played on short rest from this past weekend’s game makes Syracuse’s performance even more impressive. Kerr noted the team’s confidence now having won their last three games and improving to 4-2 on the year.
“The level we are playing is a special thing,” Kerr said. “Everyone on this team trusts me and I trust my teammates. We move as one.”
Looking ahead, the Orange transition back to conference play against the Louisville Cardinals at home on Friday. Lousiville is coming off their biggest win of the year, a victory over No. 25 Wake Forest 3-0 at home last Friday. The short turnaround for SU will present challenges of its own, but the team’s performance tonight is encouraging.
is a contributor to The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.
