Syracuse Men’s Soccer downs Rhode Island 3-2

By Nick Kuzma

CitrusTV Men’s Soccer Beat Reporter

Deadlocked at two, Rhode Island (14-4-3, 7-1 Athletic 10) made the ultimate mistake with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

The Rams committed a penalty in the box, setting up a penalty kick opportunity for the Orange.

Ryan Raposo was the man tasked with giving the SU the advantage, and he did not disappoint.

The sophomore approached the ball, hesitated for a second, and finished with his right foot, sending the ball into the lower-left corner of the net to give Syracuse the lead.

It was a tough, hard-fought victory for the Orange, who was one of the 24 at-large bids selected to play for a Division I National title.

“Tonight was a typical NCAA Tournament game,” SU Head Coach Ian McIntyre said, “a lot of emotion, two teams going tooth and nail,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said.

The Syracuse Men’s Soccer team (8-6-5, 2-4-2 Atlantic Coast) is now moving on to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Orange have played in the Second Round four of the last five years.

It was a very difficult week on campus for students and staff, and the soccer team was not immune to it.

“This is a family on the field; this is a family off the field, ” McIntyre said. “We take tremendous pride in the diversity of our locker room.”

A word that came up several times after the game was “resilient” or “resiliency.”

SU has shown its character time and time again throughout this season by coming back from early deficits.

The Orange had to do just that Thursday night as well.

In the 31st minute, Rhode Island took the early lead off a Filippo Tamburini score.

But the Orange did not lay down, as less than three minutes later, Luther Archimede tied the game at one off a Ryan Raposo free-kick.

The score was the freshman’s fourth goal of the season.

The ‘Cuse then found the back of the net again on a controversial no-call.

Severin Soerlie got the ball deep in SU’s attacking third off of a URI turnover. To the naked eye, it appeared like Soerlie was offside, but no whistle was blown.

Rams’ Goalkeeper Stefan Schmidt came out of the box to contest the senior, but Soerlie got the ball to Ryan Raposo, who was able to tap the ball in the empty net for a 2-1 lead going into the locker room at halftime.

Raposo also scored the penalty kick goal, as mentioned earlier, after URI tied the game in the second half in what was a monster night for the Canadian-born sophomore.

Raposo, who was named First-Team All-ACC last week, finished with five points to bring his 2019 point total to a staggering 37 points.

Next up for Syracuse, the team stays in New York State.

The Orange head down to Queens, New York, to play against 16-seed St. John’s.

SU has not played the Red Storm, an old Big East foe, since 2016 — a match Syracuse won 3-2 at SU Soccer Stadium.

Kickoff at Belson Stadium is scheduled for Sunday, November 24th at 5 o’clock.

npkuzma@syr.edu | @nkuz71