SU men’s soccer downs Vermont in 5-2 slugfest
SU men’s soccer wins 5-2 slugfest over Vermont
It wasn’t always pretty, but for the Syracuse men’s soccer team, a 5-2 win over Vermont was exactly what the doctor ordered.
“This was a tricky one,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “I’m very pleased with the way we started the game, trying to meet and ultimately exceed the intensity of a very good Vermont team.”
The scoring came early and often, as the Orange tallied three of their five goals in the first thirteen minutes en route to their highest-scoring effort of the season.
Senior forward Manel Busquets set the tone for the Orange, putting the team on the board with a rebound header just three minutes into the match. Then, he added an assist less than five minutes later, setting up his classmate midfielder Colin Biros to double the lead.
“I think [on a] winning team, everyone’s got to score goals and step up,” Busquets said after notching his second tally of the season. “I think it’s been good that we don’t have to go on just one individual.”
The Catamounts dashed any hopes of a shutout shortly thereafter when referees whistled junior center back Buster Sjoberg for a penalty in the 12th minute. Catamount forward Nacho Lerech buried his shot into the bottom left corner to cut the lead in half.
But the Orange responded immediately. Freshman forward Francesco Pagano tipped home a third tally just in front of the net on a cross from a fellow first-year midfielder Giona Leibold.
The match sat stagnant until the 55th minute when graduate defender Max Kent was called for SU’s second penalty of the game. UVM forward Matt Black drove home the P.K. for Vermont, and suddenly the outcome was in doubt once more.
However, Kent stuck to the theme of responding quickly and scored his own goal just four minutes later. The 6’3” Minnesotan put his height to good use and leaped over the outstretched arms of Catamount goalkeeper Nate Silveira to score a highlight reel header.
“There was definitely part of me that was frustrated about the P.K.,” Kent said. “You make mistakes in this game and you have to be able to brush it off your shoulder.”
Syracuse added its fifth goal in the 83rd minute on a flawless free-kick bender into the top right corner from freshman forward Curt Calov. It was Calov’s fifth score of the season, which ranks second on the team behind sophomore forward Deandre Kerr, who has been out since injuring himself on Sept. 17.
The Orange improved to 5-4-1 on the night, with their ACC record still sitting at 1-2. They’ll look to even their conference record Friday when they travel to Heinz Field to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers
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