SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The rv/-- Syracuse men’s soccer team opened Atlantic Coast Conference play with an overtime thriller against No. 23/15 Louisville at the SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange took an early lead, but the Cardinals found the back of the net in the closing minutes of the first half for the games’ only goals in a 1-1 draw in double overtime.

“This was a grind, this was a battle of an ACC Conference game,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. ”We were taking on a very good Louisville team. They are fluid, they are dynamic. I think both teams kind of canceled each other out tonight. It was a little bit more gritty than some of the games we’ve played. I’m really proud. You can’t replicate these kinds of games in practice. We have a lot of new faces. You can’t explain to the new guys what an ACC Conference game is. It’s a war, it’s a battle. We will be a better team because of tonight.”

The Orange (3-1-1, 0-0-1) scored on its first shot in the ninth minute. Junior Oyvind Alseth (Trondheim, Norway) and sophomore Julian Buescher (Duelmen, Germany) combined on the give-and-go and Alseth put his shot away for his team-leading third goal of the season. The Cardinals (3-1-1, 0-0-1) tied the score with 1:03 remaining in the first half. Tim Kubel’s serve into the box deflected to Daniel Johnson, who put his shot into the left corner of the net to even things up at 1-1.

That would be the only goals of the game. The Orange had two quality scoring chances in the second half. The first came off a corner kick in the 49th minute. Redshirt junior Liam Callahan (Amherst, N.Y.) served the ball to the left side of the box where freshman Miles Robinson’s (Arlington, Mass.) tried a header into the left corner of the goal, but Louisville goalkeeper Nick Jeffs made the save, one of three for the game. Senior Juuso Pasanen (Kuopio, Finland) tried to break the tie in the 71st minute, but his shot from 20 yards out went just wide.

Buescher had the best scoring opportunity in overtime, but he lofted his shot just over the crossbar in the 102nd minute.

The defensive battle featured just four Louisville shots, one of which was on goal, and seven for the Orange. Both teams finished with four corner kicks.

Syracuse, which extended its unbeaten streak to four games, takes on Wake Forest in its first road league contest of the season on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.

Game Notes: The crowd of 2,237 is the third-largest in SU Soccer Stadium history. It marks the second consecutive match in which the Orange has drawn more than 2,000 fans … The tie breaks Syracuse’s two-game losing streak in ACC openers.

 

AGATE

                                1st          2nd        1OT        2OT        Final
Louisville              1              0              0              0              1
Syracuse              1              0              0              0              1

 

Shots: Syracuse 7, Louisville 4
Corner Kicks: Syracuse 4, Louisville 4
Saves: Syracuse 0 (Austin Aviza), Louisville 3 (Nick Jeffs)

Attendance: 2,237

 

-- SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: NEW YORK’S COLLEGE TEAM --