Syracuse men’s soccer falls at home

The Syracuse men’s soccer team began its four-match homestand with an unfortunate ending after they fell 2-1 to Temple University.

The loss is Cuse’s first defeat at SU Soccer Stadium in their last 15 home matches.

Syracuse had control for most of the game with ample opportunity to score, taking 15 shots against Temple’s 5. The corner kicks told a similar story. Syracuse took 14 corners while keeping Temple without a single attempt.

However, their lesser play did not stop Temple from taking an early lead with a goal from midfielder Lleyton Imparato.

Though Syracuse had possession of the ball for much of the game and kept the ball near the Temple goal, the team couldn’t seem to get anything significant going when it counted. That was until the 87 minute when Syracuse finally scored a goal to tie the game.

The Orange managed to tie in the final minutes of the tense matchup with a header from the corner. Senior midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski took the corner and found graduate defender Buster Sjoberg, who headed the ball toward senior midfielder Gabriel Mikina for the goal.

This success was short-lived, however, as Temple scored a minute later to take the lead once again, ultimately winning them the game.

The loss was not due to a lack of focus or intensity. It was a lack of quality when given opportunities, according to head coach Ian McIntyre.

“We had enough chances right, like in the first half we created enough but our quality in front of goal was poor,” McIntyre said. “Our big players didn’t step up and score today. I think we have terrific players, but we had chances today, and we had the ball on the feet and the head of some really good players.”

Whereas, on Temple’s side of the ball, players such as defender Rocco Haeufgloeckner and midfielder Felix Ewald stepped up in a big way with the game-ending goal 88 minutes into the game.

The Orange now sit on an overall record of 6-3-3 and a conference record of 2-1-2.

Though the 15-game undefeated home game streak ended, there is hope that SU will bounce back against Clemson, and regain some of that much-needed momentum when they face off.

“I’m sure Clemson watching this loved it, every moment of it. I’m sure it was great viewing for those guys,” McIntyre said.

SU kicks off against No. 21 Clemson on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.