Syracuse holds on for upset win over No. 22 UNC

Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre patrolled the sideline in his team’s defensive third of the field. The Orange were defending a 1-0 lead over No. 22 UNC with ten men after sophomore defender Chimere Omeze was sent off with a red card. 

McIntyre was urging on his depleted defense corps. The Tar Heels were pressing, but the Orange only needed to hold on for a few more minutes. 

Just as UNC looked like they would find an equalizer, graduate goalkeeper Tomas Hut answered the call. Tar Heels defender Luca Nikolai labeled a shot towards the top corner of the net. Hut floated into the air and parried the ball out of play for the best of his season-high eight saves. 

After a few more tense moments, Syracuse held on for a 1-0 win. 

The game was underscored by incredible physicality. Both teams fought for every ball, recording 17 fouls each. Not even the referee could escape the action. She was caught in the middle of a collision. She bounced back to her feet and immediately blew her whistle for a separate foul. It was one of those days. 

The scrappiness came to a head after Omeze’s red card challenge. Both teams convened after the tackle. As arguments between players began heating up, pushing and shoving commenced. Both benches restrained their players, and no cards were given in the moment outside of Omeze’s red. 

As Hut and the Orange defense were hemmed in, bodies densely packed the 18-yard box. Collisions were unavoidable, and Hut was a victim of a particularly hard one. The Syracuse training staff tended to him for a few minutes before he emerged with a bandage on his head.

“That’s for the cameras,” McIntyre said jokingly. “It’s going to be all over Instagram, and he’s probably going to get some kind of deal with Band-Aid.”

Hut might have kept the Tar Heels off the score board, but you have to score to win. Syracuse’s goal came long before Hut’s heroics. 

With just over ten minutes to go in the first half, senior midfielder Carlos Zambrano had his back to goal before he flicked the ball over his head. As he turned, he left UNC defender Riley Berge in the dust. He carried the ball into the 18 and hit a ballerina spin to send Callum Frogson running past him. 

Zambrano found a window of space to send a cross through to Landon Darko. On senior day, it was the freshman who calmly drove a shot into the bottom left corner to give Syracuse the lead, and eventually, the win. The goal allowed the Orange to play to their defensive strengths for the remaining 55 minutes. 

“[We’re] very good defensively,” Darko said. “It’s always great to get that first goal because we already know what we can expect.”

It was a special day at SU Soccer Stadium, as the team honored seven seniors and graduate students before the game. Six of them saw the field and contributed to the win. Santiago Frias only saw the field for the final seven minutes, but he helped the Orange defense slam the door shut while a man down. 

“He’s a Syracuse soccer guy,” McIntyre said. “Every time he made contact with the ball the whole bench erupted.”

The win was the fourth ACC victory of the season for the Orange. The Tar Heels were undefeated in the conference before Saturday’s loss. With the ACC tournament right around the corner, McIntyre is hoping to clinch a home game in the opening round. 

“We wanted to keep our family together,” he said. “And what that means is playing home games, and your ability to keep your group here.”