Syracuse Men’s Soccer finds the luck of the Irish for first ACC win

A chilly evening at the SU Soccer Stadium was the scene for Syracuse Men’s Soccer, as they host Notre Dame in what was to be a tough ACC matchup. Cuse scored twice in the second half to make the difference and defeated the Fighting Irish 2-1 for their first ACC victory of the season. 

“I’m so happy for our guys,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said about the victory. “We really dug deep, and you see the qualities that we have.”

The game started very slowly, with neither team’s defense giving way to allow any chances.

The only shot on goal in the entire first half came in the first minute from Matthew Roou, and each team made changes to get their offenses going in the second half. 

“We got a little bit higher up the field,” McIntyre said about his changes throughout the contest. “Second half, we really took the game to them.”

Both teams did come out early in the half.

A centering pass from graduate student Gabe Threadgold was set up by Michael Acquah, with Ben Rosenblatt striking it into the top corner. 

A few minutes passed, and Notre Dame equalized on Roou header. The referee confirmed the goal after an offside review. 

This is where Threadgold stepped in. 

Acquah connected for his second assist of the contest, putting a centering pass through the length of the box.

Threadgold put it through the legs of Irish keeper Blake Kelly, giving the Orange the game-winning goal.

“I did that job well,” Threadgold said about his third goal of the season. “We want the other [wingback] at the back post to clean stuff up.”

The remaining thirty minutes of the match were filled with decent chances for both sides, including Notre Dame forcing senior goalkeeper Tomas Hut to hold his ground.

Notre Dame rushed for a corner kick with the clock reaching its final ticks, but they couldn’t get a shot to reach the net. 

Syracuse’s defense played well all night long. They blocked three shots in the final two minutes to secure the massive win. 

This victory meant a lot to the team, and McIntyre put the importance of these moments into perspective.

“I want my guys to enjoy this moment,” he said. “If we can put a few smiles on people’s faces tonight, then we’ve done our job.”

The Orange were wearing shirts to honor Malia Jusczyk, the daughter of McIntyre’s college roommate, who died at the age of 14 from neuroblastoma, a form of cancer.

“She battled cancer twice, was in remission for nine years,” Coach McIntyre said about what it means to him to honor Malia’s life. “I wanted to put [on] a performance that she’d be proud of. I hope that we did that.”

The win moves the Cuse to 5-4-3 overall and 1-2-2 in the conference. It is the team’s first winning streak since beating Colgate and Niagara in their first two games of the season. 

Syracuse won’t have time to celebrate as they head to Rhode Island Tuesday night to play the Providence College Friars. Its next home game comes against Loyola on Oct. 15.