Orange Downs Big Red in Ithaca
By Luke McGrath
CitrusTV Men’s Soccer Reporter
ITHACA, N.Y. – After dropping its conference opener the Syracuse (3-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) quickly turned things around with a wire-to-wire 2-0 win over Cornell (3-1, 0-0 Ivy) on the road Monday night.
The win marked the first game this season that did not end in a one-goal decision. It was also the Big Red’s first loss of the season and their home opener.
The Orange did not waste much time getting on the score sheet. In the eighth minute freshman midfielder Ryan Raposo created space just outside the box and buried a curler just inside the right post for his second goal of the season.
Four minutes later SU found the back of the net again, this time from a corner kick. Boston College transfer Len Zeugner scored his first goal as a member of the Orange by powering a header past the outstretched hands of Cornell goalie Ryan Shellow.
Ryan Raposo got the assist on the play and drew even with fellow Ontario native Tajon Buchanan for the team lead in points with eight. Raposo also leads the Orange in assists with four.
From there on the Orange relied on defense to secure its third win of the season and its first clean sheet. But that didn’t mean Hendrik Hilpert was not called upon to make some stops, the senior form Germany tallied eight saves on the night, one short of a career high.
Cornell finished the game with 14 shots to SU’s six and edged out the Orange 5-4 in corner kicks.
Syracuse stays on the road but jumps back into ACC play in its next contest taking on Clemson Friday night with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
@L_McGrath14 | Lumcgrat@syr.edu
