Return of Fans Boosts SU Men’s Soccer
By Danny Tow
CitrusTV Men’s Soccer Beat Reporter
Death, taxes, and home fans insulting the opposing team’s keeper. There are few certainties in life, but to paraphrase Ben Franklin, those are three. After a year playing in empty stadiums, Syracuse Men’s Soccer heartily welcomed back crowds to the SU Soccer Stadium this season, and the results have shown. Already accumulating more wins at home than last year, the Orange are making the most of their opportunities with friendly crowds.
“It’s a bigger crowd than last year, certainly,” head coach Ian McIntyre deadpanned. “We’ve got a very knowledgeable soccer community. The SU Soccer Stadium can be a very fun place to play, and our guys really feed off the energy of the crowd. It’s been awesome to come back and play in front of big crowds and have fun college games.”
If nothing else, Syracuse has treated their fans to fun home games this year. From 1-0 thrillers against top teams such as Georgetown and Duke (currently ranked numbers one and four, respectively), to high-scoring goal-fests against Binghamton and Louisville, no one has left the SU Soccer Stadium this fall bored.
“A big part of playing at home is having that crowd; having them be loud,” midfielder Colin Biros said. “What I like about our stadium is that the crowd is right on top of the field, so you can really feel the energy from them, and them just being loud and supportive is really big for home games.”
On the flip side, however, other teams have regained their crowds too. For some teams, this would pose difficulties, as the jeering and excess noise can get to some players. Not this group, however.
“It doesn’t bug us,” forward Manel Busquets said about road crowds returning. “I think it does the reverse effect, like it pumps us up, because we want to beat them. And when we can beat them in front of their crowd it’s amazing.”
Clearly, the return of the crowd gives Syracuse’s men’s soccer players a boost on the pitch. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s enough to push them to the postseason and beyond.
dtow01@syr.edu | @TheDannyTow
