Late Header by Freshman Pieles gives Syracuse 2-1 OT Victory over Loyola Marymount
Syracuse needed to play 102 minutes of soccer Sunday night, but the game would end in glorious fashion for the Orange.
A header by freshman forward Johannas Pieles in the 12th minute of overtime game Syracuse a 2-1 over Loyola Marymount in the first ever meeting between the two schools. Pieles was able to redirect a corner kick from Ovyind Alseth into the back of the net for his second goal of the game. His first goal would come off after collecting a rebound from Jonathan Hagman and slotting it into the goal.
“I admit that I had a bit of luck,” said Pieles through Hendrik Hilpert, who was interpreting. “But all-in-all I’m very happy that I scored.”
Pieles has been splitting time with Kenny Lassiter as the strike partner to Chris Nanco, but Pieles showed his value to the team today with his brace. Coach Ian McIntyre stressed that all three of his strikers will play a key role in ensuring the success of Syracuse this season.
“This was a good weekend. All three of them scored,” said McIntyre. “We’ll enjoy that, and long may it continue. We need the three of them to chip in the goals.”
LMU’s goal would come in the 68th minute as Adian Perez put a shot to the left of a diving Hilpert. After that goal, Syracuse seemed to turn on the afterburners.
“We needed that second goal,” said Coach McIntyre. “But our guys really dug deep to go off again. They weren’t happy to come out here with a point. They wanted to win it.”
“There was no way we wanted to settle for the draw,” said senior defender Louis Cross
Syracuse continues to be strong offensively, as the Orange dominated Loyola Marymount on the stat sheet. SU had 15 shots and 9 on target, while LMU only managed 5 shots and 3 on target. Set piece opportunities were also abundant for Syracuse, as it managed to force 12 corner kicks as opposed to the 3 of Loyola Marymount.
The offensive turned around in the latter part of the 2nd half to secure another victory for Syracuse, who has gotten off to a good start to the season with 2 wins over tough opponents in UMASS and LMU.
