Orange Soccer loses in double overtime to Louisville
Orange Soccer loses to Louisville in 2OT
The Syracuse men’s soccer team suffered a double overtime loss Friday night, in a 5-4 defeat to the Louisville Cardinals.
This September night brought in spectators from all over the Syracuse area, including a lively student section that rang horseshoe bells, blew through horns and banged on empty Home Depot buckets.
Coach Ian McIntyre won his 100th game Tuesday as the coach for the Syracuse Orange, while the Orange walked in looking to extend their three game win-streak to four. The stage was set.
The first half was nothing less than intense and physical. The Orange defensively hounded the Cardinals like a pack of wolves. At one point, Louisville was unable to push the ball halfway past the field for almost two full minutes early in the half.
Whether it was graduate student goalkeeper Lucas Daunhauer diving like a cat to keep the game scoreless, or teammates Amferny Sinclair and Giona Leibold rushing back to make defensive stops, teamwork was the name of the game.
In the 18th minute of the game, Louisville senior forward Pedro Fonseca scored off a penalty kick. Only a couple minutes later, Syracuse sophomore forward Deandre Kerr answered with a successful penalty kick of his own to tie 1-1.
Twenty-three minutes into the half, Fonseca scored his second goal off a penalty kick. Fast forward five minutes later, Kerr returns the favor with his second goal off a penalty kick to tie the game 2-2 in the first half.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Louisville freshman forward Aboubacar Camara scored off an assist from Fonseca to put the Cardinals ahead 3-2.
After further back and forth shot attempts, Syracuse’s Julius Rauch’s bicycle kick attempt was blocked, only to be head-butted in for the goal by Orange freshman Curt Calov to tie the game 3-3.
Louisville would answer halfway through the second half, as Louisville sophomore forward Ugochukwu Achara scored to place the Cardinals ahead 4-3.
With 10 minutes left in regulation, the Orange would punch harder with a goal that bounced in from the left corner of the goal-post, from junior Christian Curti, assisted by senior midfielder Colin Biros, to tie the game 4-4.
Neither team would score throughout the rest of regulation, bringing in a pair of overtimes.
The first overtime was full of missed scoring opportunities, and bear-clawing play from both sides, leading to a second overtime.
Three minutes into the second overtime, Louisville freshman defender Josh Jones iced the game with an assist from Sander Roed, to win 5-4. Game over.
“I just said I was proud of them. When you’re in a special group you just don’t wanna not be with them” Coach Ian McIntyre said. “We’re a growing, maturing, evolving team and we learn a lot about ourselves through tough challenges like this.”
The Orange will hit the road and play against the Cornell Big Red on Tuesday.