Syracuse Men's Soccer Falls to Defending National Champion Notre Dame in Conference Opener

Story and photos by Julia Morris

Temperatures on Saturday night dropped down to the low 50s but the brisk, chilly air did not stop a record-setting crowd of 2,442 from going to watch the Syracuse men's soccer team (4-1) host defending national champion Notre Dame (3-1-1).  

“I think that it’s been the best crowd we’ve had easily…I looked up a couple times and didn’t see a seat in the stadium,” Syracuse goalkeeper Alex Bono said.  “And that was huge for us - it gives us a huge rush of adrenaline being on the field and watching the fans cheer us on.”

But it wasn't enough to get the win. Despite the packed hill of fans behind the net and home-crowd enthusiasm, the Orange was shut out by the Irish and handed its first loss of the season by a final score of 1-0.  With the win, Notre Dame bounced back from a loss to Kentucky and avoided its first losing streak since 2010.

Skylar Thomas received two yellow cards in the game

The only goal of the game was scored in the 74^th minute of play.  Right before the goal, Syracuse center back Skylar Thomas was ejected from the game after receiving his second yellow card.  The 6-foot-3 Thomas took down Notre Dame forward Jon Gallagher as he was charging down the pitch.  The crowd, which erupted into boos following the two previous yellow cards against the Orange, again voiced its displeasure with the call as Thomas left the field.

“You lose your 6-foot-3 guy and we’re a pretty small team,” Orange coach Ian McIntyre said. “You’re a man down chasing a very technical team.”

The Irish immediately took advantage of being a man-up against the Orange. In a free kick play following the ejection, midfielder Patrick Hodan, who leads the Irish in career assists, connected with sophomore Brandon Aubrey, who headed the ball into the left corner of the goal.  The score was the first of Aubrey’s career and gave the Irish a 1-0 lead. Prior to the point, Orange keeper Alex Bono had not given up a goal this season. 

Notre Dame's Max Lachowecki gets ready to shoot

“To give up a set piece on the ensuing play is disappointing for us, set pieces are something we take pride in defending and attacking,” Bono said. “So that was tough for us but we put a lot of effort in the last fifteen minutes even without a center back and we pushed guys forward and we had chances to tie the game.”

One of those chances came with only three minutes left in the contest when midfielder Nick Perea had the ball in the left corner of the field by the Notre Dame goal.  His cross pass attempt to set up a score failed as the ball soared over the net.  Perea fell to the ground after the kick and upon realizing that the ball went out of play, slammed his hand down on the grass in frustration.

“I hit the ball wrong,"  Perea said. "I wasn’t trying to shoot I was trying to cross it so I was a little frustrated with myself. I was hoping to get a better cross for my teammates.”

In the first half, the contest was a back and forth battle and with only fifteen minutes remaining  both teams had attempted three shots and two corner kicks. Overall, the Orange outshot the Irish 13-12, which was a much different result than last year's contest in which the Irish outshot the Orange 17-4.  The Irish also beat the Orange 4-2 in 2012.  McIntyre said the hard-fought contest between the two teams had a much different feel this year and overall he was pleased with his team's performance.

“This was a different game than those games…we worked extremely hard against a very talented team…we were good tonight…I think we did as well a job as we could and nullified four very good forwards. It was a great start to the season...I'm very happy where we are if we continue to improve."

The Orange will host Cornell on Tuesday Night.  The Irish plays its next game at Virginia on the 21st.