Late Flurry Boosts Men’s Soccer to Convincing Victory Over Saint Francis

By: Andrew Selover | @AndrewSelover
CitrusTV Men’s Soccer Beat Reporter

Syracuse, NY – On Tuesday night, Syracuse and Villanova headed into the final twenty minutes of play knotted at one. The Wildcats knocked off the Orange with an 83rd minute goal. On Saturday night, the Orange flipped the script. Five ‘Cuse goals in the final twenty minutes of play eliminated the upset hopes of Saint Francis following an early lead.

Twenty-five minutes into the first half, Sean Smolyn headed home the opening goal to hand Saint Francis the lead. The 1-0 SFU lead held constant for nearly fifty minutes. In the 70th minute, the Red Flash presented a hungry Orange offense with a gift in the form of a penalty-kick. Jeorgio Kocevski proceeded to ripple the back of the net from the spot and open the flood gates. Francesco Pagano slotted home a goal five minutes later to give SU the lead. Giona Leibold, Lorenzo Boselli, and Antonino Pagano all helped extend the lead for the Orange with three goals in the last ten minutes.

In a game that SU outshot SFU by 16, it just took one goal to spark an impressive offensive performance. Ahead of the 2022 regular season, the Orange have shown an ability to not only score but score in bunches. SU outshot its opponent in all three exhibitions, outscoring opponents 12-3. In Saturday night’s game, Syracuse scored five goals in twenty minutes. In a 6-0 win over Marist, Ian McIntyre’s squad found the back of the net four times in a span of just fifteen minutes.

It’s now time for the Orange to carry momentum and lessons learned from a 2-1 preseason slate towards the season opener. Syracuse and Iona square up for the first time ever to open the 2022 regular season next Thursday. Kickoff is scheduled for 5pm at the SU Soccer Stadium.