Orange go down to the wire with No. 2 Georgetown
SU soccer comes up short against Hoyas
The Syracuse men’s soccer team suffered its second loss of the season Friday night, in a 1-0 defeat to the Georgetown Hoyas.
The 19th matchup between the two traditionally rival schools’ men’s soccer programs had grit and aggressive play from the opening whistle.
In the first half, each side was strong on the defensive end, which caused offensive struggles for both teams. The Orange applied constant pressure and placed double teams once the Hoyas crossed the midfield line.
Junior defender Buster Sjoberg set the tone as an enforcer for the Orange, while sophomore forward Deandre Kerr hustled back to make a terrific first-half goal-saving stop to keep the game tight.
Kerr and freshman defensive midfielder Giona Leibold dazzled around Hoya opponents to set up scoring opportunities for their SU teammates.
“I believe we have to get more shots on goal and be more brave up front,” Leibold said. “I believe we’re doing a great job and if we just keep working on this I believe that it’s gonna work out.”
As both squads entered the second half scoreless, the Orange were keeping up with the top five nationally ranked Hoyas. That was until Georgetown sophomore midfielder John Franks broke free to score on a breakaway assist from junior midfielder Dante Polvara.
“We got really close to the box and just couldn’t find a shot that we were looking forward to,” Kerr said. “We have more belief that we can compete with any team in the country, so we’re just going to take that into the next game.”
The rest of the second half slowly became a must-score situation for Syracuse. But in the end, after multiple opportunities to score, the Orange could not tie the game.
“This has been a big week for us to test ourselves and measure ourselves,” head coach Ian McIntyre said.“If I was watching the game tonight, I’d leave thinking we got a pretty young talented group and they work extremely hard and take pride in representing Syracuse University.”
The Orange will play again Monday at SU Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. against the Niagara Purple Eagles.
is a sports reporter for The NewsHouse, and a graduate student in the Broadcast & Digital Journalism program.
is a NewsHouse photographer and Newhouse School graduate student.
