SU Men’s Soccer and Virginia share the spoils on senior day

It was a tale of two games for Syracuse Men’s Soccer.

On Senior Day, Syracuse pinned Virginia in its own half for most of the second half, piled up the corners, tested goalkeeper Caleb Tunks on numerous occasions, but still only managed to walk away with a 1-1 tie.

The Orange (7-6-2, 1-4-2 ACC) and Cavaliers (7-6-2) played to a 1-1 draw, with Virginia controlling the first half before Syracuse took over after the break.

Virginia started the game sharper and more composed. Its 4-2-3-1 looked well organized from the opening whistle. The Orange were content to sit back and wait for a counter, but their long balls to the forward line failed to connect.

The Cavaliers found their breakthrough in the 17th minute, when speedy left winger Sami Oulouhei buried a shot across the goal and into the bottom corner. He constantly caused problems down his flank in the first half. His ability to use his left foot gave Syracuse defenders two things to worry about: his crosses and his shots. 

Syracuse didn’t have a real look on goal until the 26th minute, when Landon Darko found space on the wing for the Orange’s first shot on target. After that, Syracuse began to find its footing, and a 37th-minute double substitution brought on Bryson Rodriguez and Dario White. 

With dynamic movement from the forwards, right back Gabriel Oksanen began whipping in dangerous crosses from his right flank. His persistence paid off in the 41st minute. 

The freshman sent in another pinpoint cross from the right side, and sophomore Bryson Rodriguez rose to meet it with a header for the equalizer. It was Rodriguez’s fourth goal of the season and Oksanen’s second assist. 

“Our strong suit is getting crosses into the box, especially for the big guys,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not that big but I can jump. I think it’s about having the idea and putting crosses in.” 

Photo by Owen Konold

Syracuse forward Sachiel Ming takes a shot at the goal against Virginia defenders during Saturday’s game at SU Soccer Stadium.

The goal marked a shift of momentum heading into halftime.

The second half belonged to the Orange. Syracuse outshot Virginia 6-3 over the final 45 minutes and won the corner battle 5-1. Virginia barely made it out of its own half. The Orange were finally playing through the Cavaliers’ defense with cleaner, more patient passing.

Senior forward Pedro Gulli was the engine of it. In the 52nd minute, he flicked a shot toward goal, forcing a corner kick. Minutes later, he got free for a header that just sailed over the bar. Oksanen kept stretching Virginia’s back line with crosses. In the 79th minute, he finally got a shot of his own with room to breathe but blazed it over. Virginia goalkeeper Caleb Tunks came up big twice, once from nearly point-blank range in the 82nd minute and again in the 87th against junior Kristjan Fortjier 

There were also opportunities at times for Virginia. A cross whipped across the face of goal in the 74th minute couldn’t find a head. Syracuse responded with a similar opportunity three minutes later but to no avail.

“We made a tactical tweak about what we were doing,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “We started looking better at the end of the first half. Pedro Gulli really caused problems with physicality and directness. Gabriel Oksanen was terrific. Garret Holman played like an all-ACC player in the second half. Our biggest question is can we put together an entire 90-minute game.”

That’s the question hanging over this Syracuse side. SU is now winless in five and still hasn’t beaten an ACC opponent at home this season. The Cavaliers extended another streak, too: the Orange haven’t beaten them at home since 2014.

If Syracuse can replicate its second-half performance over a full 90 minutes, it could build momentum heading into the ACC tournament. A conference win in its regular-season finale would provide a much-needed confidence boost. 

Syracuse can get that at 5 p.m. Friday when they hit the road to face Virginia Tech.