Men’s Soccer Edges Penn 2-1 in NCAA Tournament 2nd Round

By: Andrew Selover | @AndrewSelover

CitrusTV Men’s Soccer Beat Reporter

In the postseason, a win and a loss can be determined by one or two opportunities. That was the case today as Syracuse knocked off Penn 2-1 in double overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After the nail-biting win, SU head coach Ian McIntyre said, “I do think there’s a resilience from our group, and it’s not just this year. We were close last year in losing these games. I do think we learned a lot and we’re growing to find ways of just keeping going. There’s also a part of just getting in that grind of staying in games and advancing.”

Penn head coach Brian Gill reflected on any regrets saying, “I could only look at the group when we were in huddles going from first half to second half, second half to overtime, or overtime to overtime. I think everybody’s look in their eyes was that we could find a way to get something done today. I don’t walk off the field with any regrets. I’m happy that the players seem not to as well. Those are thin lines and the margins are always going to be the ones that get exploited in tight games like this. I don’t think that we got anything particularly wrong, whether that be on a coaching level or player level really.”

Next up for Syracuse is a rematch against Cornell next weekend at the SU Soccer Stadium in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Big Red are one of just two teams to knock off the Orange all season long.