Norwegian Force Leads 4-1 Men's Soccer Win Over Bucknell

Story by Jiayang Zhang
Photo courtesy: cuse.com

 

Syracuse, N.Y.-Bouncing back from last Friday’s 2-1 loss to Louisville, SU men’s soccer team won 4-1 over Bucknell Tuesday night at the SU Soccer Stadium. Chris Nanco gave the Orange an early lead with the fastest goal of the season. Sophomore midfielder Oyvind Alseth harvested his first two career goals after assisting his Norwegian fellow Emil Ekblom on the second goal.

Forty-seven seconds into the game, Nanco cut off an errant pass from Bucknell goalkeeper Mike Lansing and sneaked the ball into the empty net. Before this game, the fastest goal was in the seventh minute against St. John’s on Sept. 6, also scored by the Canadian forward.


Collaboration

The two Norwegians, Alseth and Emil Ekblom played give-and-take in contributing to the other three goals.       

In the 22nd minute, Ekblom headed a corner kick by Alseth into the net. It was the seventh goal for SU's leading scorer this season. The connections between the two Norwegians have been vitally beneficial to the Orange. Alseth assisted Ekblom’s game-winning goals against Rutgers and Virginia Tech early this season.   

In the second half, Bucknell added some pressure on the Orange defense in the first ten minutes and in the 56th minute, freshman Ben Derleth broke the defensive line and scored his first career goal for Bucknell to cut the score to 2-1. 

Alseth scored twice in the following ten minutes and sealed the victory for the Orange. His first career goal came in the 58th minute. It was the second header of the game, assisted by Korab Syla and Julian Buescher from left wing. Eight minutes later, Ekblom paid Alseth back. After the two Norwegians played a counterattack down the right side, Alseth blasted the ball into the net, widening the lead to three goals where it stayed until the end.

“I honestly didn’t know what was going on out there,” Alseth said after the game. “I was just feeling it. ”


Celebration

The Norwegian did a ‘Selfie’ celebration for his first career goal with his European fellows Julian Buescher and Juuso Pasanen. 

“I have too many celebrations on my mind,” Alseth said, “I just have to figure out which one to choose when I score.”

Other players had been teasing Alseth for not having scored in 33 games, saying that their goalkeeper Alex Bono is as dangerous in front of a goal as Alseth is. But they are truly happy for him Tuesday night.

“It’s a great game for Oyvind today,” Nanco said. “...I’m really happy for him.”  

“We’ve got good communications,” Ekblom said. He received an assist from Alseth in the first half and gave one back in the second half. “We know each other very well, and we play well together.”

“I was concerned for we started the second half a little bit flat, gave credit to Bucknell,” Head Coach Ian McIntyre said. “They came back in it. Good side is we went on and found the third goal quite quickly.”

“We are a nice group,” McIntyre said. “We work extremely hard and we are enjoying the journey right now. Hopefully there are still a couple of chapters to write.”

The Orange will travel to Raleigh, NC to face North Carolina State at 7 p.m. this Saturday.