Nick Roydhouse stood facing a wall of American players with a golden opportunity to win the game in overtime.

Dan Summers set up a free kick for the Syracuse midfielder when he came barreling down the field and was tripped in the 94th minute. In the process, he drew a yellow card from an AU midfielder and set up the outside-the-box shot.

Roydhouse played the free kick perfectly. He had two options in mind — right or left. With all the AU players lined up, the goalkeeper would have to predict which direction Roydhouse would go.

He guessed wrong. Roydhouse sent a strike to the left side of the net and the ball snuck inside the post for the game-winner. The Eagles’ goalkeeper didn’t even see it coming.

‘In the first half, I had already taken a free kick that had gone to the right,’ Roydhouse said. ‘I had made the assumption right here that he was going to guess I was going the same way. So I just mixed it up and he guessed the wrong way.’

Roydhouse’s goal gave the Orange (2-2, 0-0 Big East) a 2-1 overtime win over American (1-4-1) at SU Soccer Stadium on Sunday. Forward Louis Clark scored the other goal for SU at the start of the game, a stagnant match highlighted by two bookend goals that proved to be all SU needed to equal its win total from all of last season.

The Orange came out aggressive early on, highlighted by Clark’s first goal of the season, an unassisted shot he netted after recovering his own rebound in the seventh minute.

‘I should have put it away the first time really,’ Clark said. ‘And I was lucky to get another opportunity to put it away.’

But after those first few minutes, the Eagles slowly began to take control of possessions, and it became a defensive battle. The dependable SU defense didn’t let American score in the first half, and the Orange failed to add to its lead.

The game turned into a physical battle in which neither team could find the back of the net. Despite outshooting its opponent 23-8, SU couldn’t convert many of its opportunities into goals.

That continued into the second half until the Eagles scored a rebound goal into the center of the net to tie the game 83 minutes in. The Orange appeared exhausted before that goal, but picked up its energy afterward with the game on the line.

‘In the second half, I thought we were a little bit lethargic and all credit to an American team,’ SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. ‘They wrestled the play away from us.

‘I was looking for reaction from the guys, and we got that today.’

Roydhouse said SU was quick to the ball offensively after changing to an attack-heavy 4-3-3 formation in overtime instead of the 4-4-2 it had been using. The adjustment gave SU two straight open looks in the extra period.

Ted Cribley was in the open field one-on-one with the AU goalie, but his shot was turned away on a diving save. About a minute later, Summers was rolling down the field alone in a similar situation, ready to take an uncontested shot when he was tripped.

The trip set the stage for Roydhouse to finish it off on the free kick.

Roydhouse’s strike found the back of the net and immediately erased any thoughts of a second straight overtime loss.

The shot curved over a line of AU players and into the left side of the net. It was similar to one Roydhouse made last year.

After missing on his first free kick try earlier in Sunday’s game, Roydhouse seized his second opportunity.

‘That’s what he’s there to do,’ McIntyre said. ‘Overtime goals, you’re looking for an opportunity. And this one was a quality strike. We’re thrilled to have won that game because it could have gone either way.’

And after last week’s overtime loss, no one on SU was ready for déjà vu.

‘Mac gave us a good talk after 90 minutes,’ Clark said. ‘There wasn’t a prayer that we weren’t going to come out and win today.’

rnmarcus@syr.edu

Published on September 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Rachel: rnmarcus@syr.edu