After a tight game on the road against the third-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, it looked like Syracuse Orange men’s soccer would come away with a 1-1 draw. Unfortunately the defense came undone in the 89th minute, committing a foul and then ceding a late goal to Jon Gallagher. That would be the difference for ND, earning the victory by a score of 2-1.
The Orange, ranked second and 8-0-0 heading into the contest, suffered their first loss of the season. Notre Dame, on the other hand, is now 7-1-0 on the year.
Notre Dame scored first in this one, as Jack Casey found the net in the 44th minute for his first goal of the year. SU would remain down 1-0 until the 78th minute when Kenny Lassiter connected, assisted by Oyvind Alseth. Just over 10 minutes later, the Irish delivered the excruciating late dagger from Gallagher.
Syracuse goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert collected three saves, while allowing two goals.
While it’s a rough way to suffer an opening loss on the year, Syracuse is still very well-situated to continue its successful run throughout the season and get back to the College Cup. At 2-1 in the conference, the Orange now sit third in the Atlantic division behind Louisville and Wake Forest, both 2-0 at the moment.
Next up for the Orange is North Carolina next Friday, September 30. The Heels are currently 7-1 and 3-0 in the ACC— first in the Coastal division. They demolished Boston College by a score of 5-0 tonight. UNC’s currently ranked ninth in the polls by the NSCAA, but they could move up before heading to SU Soccer Stadium in a week.