Late Strike Gives Syracuse its First Loss of 2016 Season
By Christian De Guzman
Notre Dame, IN – All good things must come to an end.
For Syracuse, the end of a great start to the 2016 season came on Friday night.
The number 2 Orange lost its first game of the regular season by a score of 2-1 as number 3 Notre Dame won with a late strike by Jon Gallagher.
Hendrik Hilpert and the SU defense got peppered in the first half, as the Fighting Irish fired 10 shots in the first half. Hilpert in particular was called on multiple times to make wonderful saves to keep Notre Dame off the scoresheet. His saves in the 28th minute and the 39th minute off of shots from Blake Townes and Oliver Harris kept the match scoreless for much of the first half.
But it would be Notre Dame that would claim the first goal of the game. Evan Panken put a cross from the left of the box and Jack Casey got past his marker, Liam Callahan. Casey would slot home the cross from Panken to put the Fighting Irish ahead 1-0.
A scary moment happened late in the first half for Syracuse. Oyvind Alseth and Miles Robinson collided in the box attempting to clear a ball from Notre Dame. Robinson would stay on the ground for a considerable amount of time before remaining in the game. Alseth would leave the game and return in the 55th minute with a big bandage wrapped around his forehead.
But Alseth would provide to be vital for Syracuse late on. The Orange earned a corner in the 79th minute. Alseth whipped a corner into the box and somehow the ball found the back of the net to make the score 1-1. After further review, the official scorer determined that Kenny Lassiter got a head on Alseth’s corner and put the ball past ND keeper Chris Hubbard.
Notre Dame would respond late, as its star player, Jon Gallagher delivered in dramatic fashion. ND’s second-highest goal scorer took a shot from outside the box that continued to rise on Hilpert. The fantastic Syracuse goalie got his hands on the shot, but it was too powerful to stop from going into the back of the net.
As Gallagher’s teammates mobbed him near the Syracuse goal, SU’s perfect start of 8-0-0 came to an end at Alumni Stadium, the place where the 2015 Cuse squad won the ACC Championship. Now, Syracuse has to pick its head up quickly. The ACC schedule doesn’t get easier.
Number 9 North Carolina will be sure to remind the Orange of that fact quickly on Friday, September 30th.
