Syracuse Eliminated from NCAA Tournament, Loses 2-1 to Georgetown in Overtime

Story and photos by Julia Morris

Washington, D.C. - Less than four minutes into sudden death overtime of the Sweet Sixteen match-up between Syracuse and Georgetown, Hoyas senior Jared Rist headed in a game-winning goal – ending the NCAA tournament game along with the Orange’s season. 

“Just a terrible feeling right now, I couldn’t even describe to you what I thought when it went in,” Syracuse goalkeeper Alex Bono said.  “I heard the crowd behind me, I just put my head to the ground and I was just kind of brainless for a second.”

The goal came off a No. 8 Georgetown (14-4-4) corner kick in the 93^rd minute of play.  It was the second corner kick goal of the game for the Hoyas, who used their set pieces to punish the No. 9 Orange (16-4-1). 

“When games are as closely fought as this one, they swing on a couple of plays and restarts can be the difference,” Syracuse Coach Ian McIntyre said.  

The other goal was an equalizer with just over ten minutes left in the game.  With Georgetown trailing 1-0 with 18 minutes left in regulation, the home crowd of 1,505 fans at Shaw Field began to chant “Let’s Go Hoyas!”  Whether the crowd pumped up the Hoyas or not, Georgetown scored just a few minutes later.  Senior Tyler Rudy sent the ball from the corner to the back goal post, where junior defender Keegan Rosenberry jumped and headed it in to tie the score 1-1.

“It’s hard giving up the goal before the end of the game,” Syracuse defender Skylar Thomas said.  “With that being said they get all the momentum and we’re kind of on the back foot after that.”

Orange Score First

While the Hoyas had the momentum at the end of the game, it was the Orange who got on the board first in the 55^th minute of play.  Syracuse’s goal also came off a corner kick opportunity. 

Thomas pushed his way up field and challenged Georgetown defenders near the net.  The Hoyas kicked the ball out of play to set up an Orange corner kick.  Midfielder Julian Buescher passed the ball to forward Alex Halis, who then drilled a shot to the right corner of the goal to give the Orange a 1-0 lead.

The Orange continued to apply pressure on the Hoyas’ defense after the goal but the team couldn’t score. In the 74^th minute, Buescher drilled a ball from behind the box that sailed just over the top of the post.

 “We started extremely well, not only did we score the goal we went for a second and that’s what I like about my group,” McIntyre said.  "They weren’t settling and they weren’t trying to defend a 1-0 lead.”

Scoreless First Half

The first half of the game was scoreless for both teams, but the Hoyas outshot the Orange 9-5.  Despite Georgetown having the shot advantage, the Orange prevented the Hoyas from scoring.

In the 7^th minute of the game, Bono made a diving save following Georgetown forward Alex Muyl’s shot from the middle of the box.  With about fifteen minutes left in the half, the Hoyas again had the ball in front of the Orange net but Bono jumped on top of the ball before Georgetown could score.

“I thought we did an outstanding job of limiting their spaces, we worked so hard to make them as predictable as they can be,” McIntyre said.

But the hard work fell just short.  While the Orange found a way to defend Georgetown’s shots near the goal, its inability to stop set pieces proved to be too costly.  The loss marked the second time in three years that Syracuse has been eliminated from NCAA play by Georgetown.  The Orange was also knocked out in 2012 by losing to the Hoyas on penalty kicks.

“This our second Sweet Sixteen in the past three years and unfortunately we’ve run into Georgetown both times,” Bono said. “That’s the way the game is, they were better on details and unfortunately that’s the end of our season.”

Syracuse Reflects on the End of Its Season

 

Although Syracuse’s season is now over, the team takes away many positives from this year – the Orange received a No. 1 ranking and hosted an NCAA tournament game, both of which had never been done before.      

“We had a really good season,” Bono said.  “Obviously we expected more of ourselves but to come to Georgetown in a tough environment and play that type of game and arguably be the better team and have a chance to win like that, I’m proud of our guys.”

While McIntyre said the loss was a disappointment, he said he views the overall season as a success.

“We’ve seen some big results on the road, we’ve seen some wonderful events at our soccer stadium, we’ve seen us break the attendance record three times,” McIntyre said.  “Our guys will reflect on this 2014 season as arguably the best Syracuse team and the best year for our program and I couldn’t be prouder"