VESTAL, N.Y. — It wasn’t Skylar Thomas leading Syracuse’s defense to a nation-leading seventh clean sheet. Nor was it fellow senior Jordan Murrell.

The two veterans who regularly claim the spotlight when they’re in on the back line played a supporting role on Tuesday.

Head coach Ian McIntyre said he made a move to “freshen up,” and that decision was playing sophomore Louis Cross at center back for all 90 minutes with Thomas on the right and Murrell the left.

Cross was steadfast at center back, dealing handily with a bevy of threats that came his way, to help No. 18 Syracuse (7-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) keep Binghamton off the scoreboard in a 1-0 win over the Bearcats (2-6) at Bearcats Sports Complex on Tuesday night.

“The decision to start Louis is just because we have a lot of faith in him,” McIntyre said. “He’s been outstanding.”

Cross has only started every other game this year, and while McIntyre has tended to mix and match with him and Tyler Hilliard and the third defender, performances like his against Binghamton give no reason to keep shuffling him out.

“He’s deserved his starting spot back for now,” goalie Alex Bono said. “Louis was terrific filling in.”

With just more than seven minutes remaining in the first half, a Binghamton corner kick was mishandled by Bono. He missed punching the ball out of the air just in front of the left post, and Binghamton’s Charlie Novoth headed the ball toward the bottom right corner.

But Cross sprawled out, saving the ball of the line and preserving the shutout.

“When he started the game here, he played 90 minutes and was solid for every single minute, every single second,” Bono said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more from him.”

The Bearcats tried to beat Syracuse’s back line by sending balls over the top. On several occasions, the ball was played over Cross’ head and he was forced to deal with bouncing balls while a Binghamton forward pressured from behind.

Each time, he successfully headed the ball back into Bono’s arms to halt the scare. Throughout the match, he repeatedly rose up to win headers and while it’s something Thomas normally does, there was no drop off with the sophomore handling that responsibility.

“There were a lot of balls in the air,” Cross said. “The support of Sky and Jordan really helped it. Seven clean sheets now, as a defense you just want to keep that going.”

And while it was in doubt at times, the Orange back line was able to pitch yet another scoreless game.

With the No. 2 team in the country on deck, SU’s defense will face its toughest test of season. But that’s a manageable for Cross and a unit that proved its worth once again.

“Were just focusing on the Virginia game and every clean sheet we get we just build more confidence,” Cross said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be confident.”

Published on September 23, 2014 at 11:28 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman