Men's Soccer

Syracuse men’s soccer offense comes full circle

Tony D. Curtis | Staff Photographer

Mo Adams, above, scored his first career goal last week in Syracuse's 2-0 win over Hartford. He's among SU's bevy of first-year players to have revived the offense.

Two days before Syracuse’s season opener, Ian McIntyre hinted at what has spurred a late-season offensive revival.

“We’re certainly unproven,” the head coach said on Aug. 24, “but we’ve got some fresh blood.”

Over the past few games, that fresh blood has come in the form of a senior transfer and a pair of freshmen who, as of two weeks ago, had not scored all year. The attack mirrors Syracuse’s early-season charge, when the Orange scored 16 goals in the first seven games.

Three of Syracuse’s first seven game winners came from players who had not played significant minutes at SU. The same newcomer strike that kindled No. 6 Syracuse’s (10-3-2, 3-2-2 Atlantic Coast) best start in history has lifted the Orange out of its worst stretch in five years.

“What a perfect time,” freshman midfielder Mo Adams said of the resurgence. “We’d rather have the four-winless streak back then than now.”



Against Loyola Marymount on Aug. 28, Johannes Pieles scored twice to push the Orange to a 2-1 victory. The freshman’s double-overtime goal came off of a corner kick in the season’s first weekend. Sophomore Jonathan Hagman assisted on the first goal.

The next Sunday, Hagman, who hardly played as a freshman, stroked a 105th-minute game-winner over St. John’s. He followed it up with a game-winner against Boston College and an insurance goal at Cornell on Sept. 20.

Pieles returned to the mix Sept. 13 in a 1-0 win over Hofstra. In the 88th minute of a game that appeared as if it were headed to overtime, Pieles emerged from chaos in front of the goal and headed the ball into the net. He racked up three goals in his first six games.

Photos by Tony D. Curtis
Tony D. Curtis | Staff Photographer

Then Syracuse’s offense stalled.

The Orange scored only two goals in the next four games amid SU’s longest winless streak since 2011. Some of Syracuse’s top threats haven’t scored in weeks. Nanco has not found the net since Sept. 9 (a 10-game span), Lassiter since Sept. 16 and Robinson since Sept. 23. (Robinson played two games with the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team.)

“I think chemistry through the attacking guys and all that,” SU associate head coach Jukka Masalin said two weeks ago, “that needs to be more.

“We’ve had loads of chances against the best teams in the country so I don’t think we have to be in any way ashamed of what we’ve done. It’s going to come. It’s going to be a little bit of a ketchup bottle effect at one point.”

Syracuse revived itself at Hartford, which speaks to how critical these last three goals — all from first-year players — have proved to be.

Sergio Camargo, a Coastal Carolina senior transfer, broke the slide with his first-ever goal at Syracuse. It propelled SU to a 1-0 win over then-No. 15 Virginia Tech. Syracuse fed off Camargo’s score at Hartford and pounded the Hawks’ defense.

The Orange came out in a 4-5-1, not its usual 3-5-2, to better match Hartford. The new formation created opportunities for the offense, which notched 10 corner kicks in the first half. While Kamal Miller and Robinson anchored the left side, John-Austin Ricks played on the right — where the freshman floated his header into the net for his first-ever goal.

Later came Adams’ first-ever goal, a missile into the top left of the net from more than 30 yards out on just his third shot of the season. It gave SU a 2-0 advantage it held for its second straight win and 10th overall.

“At Hartford we had maybe the best performance in a half we’ve ever had here,” said McIntyre, in his seventh season.

Syracuse needs all of the scoring it can get. Its next opponent, No. 2 Wake Forest, boasts one of the nation’s top defenses. The Demon Deacons rank second nationally in goals-against per game (.43) and sixth in shutout percentage (.63).

With a win, Syracuse can salvage its midseason hiccup, take third place in the ACC Atlantic Division and get a first-round bye in the ACC tournament — a seemingly distant feat just a couple of weeks ago.





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