SU men’s soccer settles for scoreless tie with NC State

Syracuse men’s soccer and the NC State Wolfpack played to a scoreless tie on Friday night after the visiting Wolfpack suffered a red card late in the match. SU had many opportunities to pay dirt throughout the game, but ultimately came up empty despite dominating many of the counting stats.

Throughout the first half, SU controlled the tempo of play and spent the bulk of the time in NC State territory. Syracuse matched the Wolfpack in shots on goal and corner kicks, but completed nearly twice as many passes and committed fewer fouls.

“The opportunities were there,” sophomore forward Deandre Kerr said. “I counted many times throughout the game that we created advantages in their (NC State) territory, but we could not punch it in.”

Kerr, who played in his second game back from a leg injury, tallied five shots including two on goal.

Early in the second half, Syracuse earned 3 corner kicks within a five-minute stretch but only one resulted in a clean look on target.

As the half progressed, Syracuse became increasingly lethargic and allowed the Wolfpack to earn their best opportunity to score the go-ahead goal.

“We struggled to rotate on the backside during that sequence, and it nearly burned us,” head coach Ian Mcintyre said. “I thought our focus lacked during that stretch of the game.”

Then, in the 76th minute, a skirmish broke out between both teams, and NC State’s Ivy Brisma committed a dangerous play that wound up earning him a red card. Following the controversy, Syracuse dominated the pace and pummeled three shots on goal within the final 14 minutes in regulation.

Looking ahead, the Orange now own a 6-5-2 record and hit the road for dates with Bucknell and Boston College.