Syracuse men’s soccer snags 4th straight victory in 2-0 win vs. SMU

Both Syracuse University and Southern Methodist University came into Saturday’s ACC men’s soccer showdown on a hot streak. SU entered as winners of its last three, including Friday’s 1-0 win against Boston College, with each win featuring a clean sheet for star graduate goalkeeper Tomas Hut.

On the other side, SMU recently jumped into the national rankings after going undefeated in its last month of play. For each squad, the game was an opportunity for a statement win in conference play.

Pressure was the theme at the start of Saturday night’s contest. Through the opening ten minutes of action, the Orange created multiple opportunities in the attacking third, noticeably flustering the Mustangs. With 35 minutes left to play in the first, SMU created a chance of its own as a cross into the box nearly found the net. 

The Orange continued to press the ball toward SMU’s net, but failed to put anything on target. Syracuse sophomore defender Garret Holman came up big for the Orange, halting a counterattack by the Mustangs. 

Syracuse and SMU traded scoring chances. The Orange took back-to-back corners to no avail, but SMU’s Charles Emile Brunet missed a shot just right of the SU net. 

The final minutes of the half were more of the same. Syracuse missed a header on a free-kick into the box, while the Mustangs came up empty once again on a threatening cross into the middle.

The Orange finally scored late in the first, as freshman Landon Darko capitalized on a one-on-one with the keeper. Darko’s second goal of the season gave SU a 1-0 lead and momentum before halftime.

Entering the second half, SMU kept creating chances for goals despite increasingly colder temperatures. Five minutes in, the Mustangs almost tied things up, but another close miss kept the Orange up one. 

Play got chippy as physicality increased on both ends. SMU grew noticeably frustrated, but continued to be fall short. A pair of Syracuse corners with 35 minutes to go were unsuccessful, and the Mustangs stayed down one.

Back-and-forth play ensued as the ball pinged across the pitch. With 27 minutes left to play, the SU defense came up with a pivotal stop as unwound a lengthy offensive possession for the Mustangs. 

Just as SMU seemed to steal some momentum, Syracuse’s senior midfielder Carlos Zambrano fired in a goal from well outside the box. Zambrano sent the ball over the head of SMU keeper Martin Dominguez from thirty yards out, giving the Orange a 2-0 lead with just over twenty minutes to play.

Syracuse preserved its 2-score lead for its fourth straight win. Despite beginning the season with many questions, the Orange seem to have hit full stride at the perfect time, impressing on both sides of the ball. Offensively, SU continuously created opportunities, and its defensive unit refused to give up anything to the persistent Mustangs.

The Orange have yet to allow a single goal throughout this four-game win streak. SU head coach Ian McIntyre spoke on the team’s defensive effort after the win.

“Tonight, we played a wonderful SMU team. So many attacking threats, so it had to be a collective effort and a lot of big individual moments,” McIntyre said.

For the offense, it has been a matter of finally putting the ball in the back of the net.

 Zambrano spoke on how the unit can continue to succeed moving forward.

“At the end of the day, it’s whoever scores their first one [goal], Zambrano said. “They could have five chances, but as long as we score our one, it doesn’t matter.”

As Syracuse builds its rhythm, McIntyre looks ahead to the final stretch of their season.

“We’re going to play some real big teams down the stretch, but what did we demonstrate? I think we’re growing and evolving, we can be a team to compete with ACC teams,” McIntyre said.

Syracuse hits the road to matchup against Pitt on Oct. 18 for another ACC contest.