Syracuse threw all of its numbers forward, trying to score the game’s first goal on a corner kick for the win. But with just less than a minute left in the second overtime, the ball was cleared out of the Villanova box and the Wildcats counter attack was underway.

Matt Margiotta streaked down the field and broke free, getting open to receive a pass as he sprinted toward the SU goal. With 44 seconds left, Margiotta put a shot past Syracuse goalkeeper Phil Boerger, who came charging out of the net to try and make the save.

A stunning game-winner, one even more disappointing for Syracuse after it missed many game-winning opportunities on its offensive end.

‘Yeah,’ SU midfielder Ted Cribley said, pausing to digest the defeat. ‘It’s a tough loss. We thought that we deserved to win. Sometimes that happens. And we sort of just have to bite our lip and get on with it.’

The Orange (3-11-1, 1-6-1 Big East) blew prime scoring opportunities in its 1-0 double overtime loss on a rainy Wednesday night in front of 281 fans at SU Soccer Stadium. The game-winning goal for Villanova (6-7-4, 3-4-1 Big East) would not have even been needed had SU converted on one of its 20 shots first.

Syracuse now finds itself in a must-win game at DePaul on Saturday if it hopes to extend its season by making the Big East tournament.

Coming off a win against Cincinnati in which it scored a season-high four goals, SU struggled to find the back of the net Wednesday. And though the game’s only goal was the difference in SU’s loss, the Orange could have avoided any overtimes had it scored on any of its multiple set pieces throughout the game.

But every chance the Orange got was turned away by Villanova goalkeeper John Fogarty.

‘Their goalkeeper pulled off some good saves,’ SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. ‘On another night, maybe we score a couple. I think we had good chances, played some good stuff and sometimes you give credit to another team.’

SU midfielder Nick Roydhouse, one of SU’s top scoring threats, had multiple chances to score the go-ahead goal. With just under 14 minutes to go in regulation, Cribley came down the field and got a foul call in his favor.

The foul set up a free kick for Roydhouse, who placed the ball in the center of the field and stared toward the goal. But his shot didn’t go in.

There were also several instances when Cribley positioned himself well and used his speed to get an open field, but he too could not convert.

Cribley said SU just needed to get one goal and the offensive rhythm from the Cincinnati win would be back.

But it never happened.

‘I think the game against Cincinnati the other night proved that we are capable of really putting in the performance when we get chances to finish,’ Cribley said. ‘Tonight we were expecting and hoping that that would happen again. Sometimes it doesn’t work.’

Boerger had multiple saves that got the Syracuse crowd on its feet and kept the Orange in the game. But the offense couldn’t produce.

In both overtimes, the Orange came out on the offensive on both sides of the ball. In the second overtime, SU had back-to-back corner kicks that were not successful. Roydhouse sent a strike to Lars Muller the first time, but Muller couldn’t get it done. Nick Perea passed in the next one, but again, SU couldn’t convert.

The back-and-forth between Villanova and SU was constant, as evidenced by the 20 shots taken by both teams. And Villanova finally ended it when Margiotta put away his breakaway opportunity.

McIntyre said this game doesn’t have a huge effect in the standings, and he talked with his team after the game to explain his rationale for throwing its numbers forward at the end.

But the loss is still bothersome to the senior Roydhouse, the team captain who played in his final home game of his SU career.

‘I should have scored,’ Roydhouse said. ‘I should have won the game for us at the end.

‘Losing is never fun. So right now, everyone’s a little bit let down. I feel like we had the chances to win the game. It was our own fault that we didn’t score. Their keeper made a couple good saves, but they’re chances that we should be putting away. Last game we did. This game we didn’t.’

rnmarcus@syr.edu

Published on October 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Rachel: rnmarcus@syr.edu