Syracuse Men’s Soccer ties Yale 1-1

By Nick Kuzma

CitrusTV Men’s Soccer Beat Reporter

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- Yale (0-0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) came out like a team possessed. It was the Bulldogs’ first match of the season and they looked like a squad that was licking their chops for Syracuse (1-1-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) all offseason.

“They started off better than us,” said Midfielder Simon Triantafillou. “They won the second balls, they were more physical.”

Triantafillou scored the lone goal for Syracuse in the 35’. It was the sophomore’s first goal of the season.

The Bulldogs tallied the first two shots of the game, and also the first foul.

Yale was very aggressive and hindered the Orange from being able to consistently penetrate their defense.

The Bulldogs banged up the SU to the tune of 21 fouls and six caution yellow cards.

This was the third consecutive game that Syracuse has faced a physical opponent. SU opponents have racked up 12 yellow cards in matches against the Cuse so far this season.

Despite Yale’s red-hot start, the Orange led 1-0 after 45 minutes. However, Syracuse was just never able to put them away.

That led to Yale tying the game at 1 in the 55’. The goal was scored by Yale’s Miguel Yuste. The Junior took advantage of a couple Syracuse defensive mistakes where Orange defenders failed to pick up their assignments.

“I was a little bit disappointed by it,” Syracuse Head Coach Ian McIntyre admitted.

After the goal, Syracuse faced offensive stagnation, largely due to the physical presence of the Bulldogs. The Orange controlled the pace of play but struggled to get quality chances.

After the game, Coach McIntyre mentioned that this was not a game with plenty of quality chances, and that it would be a struggle to think about individual times where the Orange really had Yale on their heels.

“They made the game choppy in the second half,” said McIntyre. “We lacked a little quality in the final third tonight.”

This was not the first time Syracuse struggled late. In their first game of the season, the Orange surrendered two late second half goals to No. 13 Georgetown and lost the match 3-1.

SU even had more time to take the advantage than normal, when the second half clock hit zero, the game was still tied at 1. The match then continued on into two 10-minute overtime periods, but no winner was found.

The Orange registered three shots in the overtime periods, and thought they had the game won late in 2OT, but a costly offsides call insured the draw.

Next up, the Orange will host the University of New Hampshire on less than 48 hours rest. The Wildcats were ranked No. 22 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night at SU Soccer Stadium.

npkuzma@syr.edu | @nkuz71