Syracuse closes home slate with draw against NC State
Syracuse closes home schedule with draw
The Orange tied for the fifth time in the season, and the fourth time against ACC rivals.
Syracuse men’s soccer closed out its home schedule with a 1-1 draw versus North Carolina State. The draw is the fifth time SU has ended a game sharing the spoils and the fourth time against ACC rivals.
The afternoon started for the Orange with a celebration of some of the leaders on the team. Eighteen team members were honored as the senior class of the Orange prepared to play what will be the final home game of the regular season.
Standout seniors: midfielder Lorenzo Boselli, midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski, defender Gabriel Mikina, defender Noah Singelmann, defender Buster Sjoberg, midfielder Josh Belluz, midfielder Felipe D’Agostini and midfielder Nate Edwards were among those honored before the game. All but one of these started the game.
The celebration would not lead the Orange to a quick goal, however, as the first half finished tied at zero. NC State would strike first after Hakim Karamoko took advantage of a continuation in play to run through SU’s midfielders and find himself looking at goal. Karamoko let go from outside of the box and beat sophomore goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham to take the lead in the 50th minute.
The Wolfpack did well to take advantage of the opportunity, as SU would limit their looks at goal for the rest of the game. By the time the final whistle blew, the Orange only allowed two shots from the visitors, one of these resulting in the goal.
The Orange did not only limit their opponents from getting clean looks, but they dominated the ball and kept the game in the opposing third. SU managed to get 18 shots on NC State, six of them on target, along with 11 corners.
SU continued to look the superior team for the rest of the second half, but failed to find an equalizer until the Orange forced a mistake and own goal from the visitors at the 76th minute.
Syracuse continued looking for the winning shot, with Boselli and D’Agostini both taking two more shots in the game’s dying minutes, but the home team had to settle for the draw.
Head coach Ian McIntyre’s men close out the regular season with yet another ACC matchup at Boston College, on Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Playoffs begin on Nov. 1, matchups are yet to be determined.
