With both teams hungry for a statement men’s soccer win Saturday night in central New York, Syracuse got the better of Notre Dame. The Orange, despite sizable Irish advantages in the shot and corner kick columns, struck twice in a second-half flurry of goals en route to a 2-1 victory. Syracuse now has its first win in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season, while Notre Dame is 5-2-3 overall and 2-2 in ACC action.
As the two recent College Cup finalists got underway in front of a strong crowd at SU Soccer Stadium, neither side gained much of an upper hand early. Notre Dame’s best chance arrived in the 20th minute when junior midfielder KK Baffour accelerated to the right corner of the 6-yard box and pumped a shot high. Syracuse offered up a threat in the 30th minute, as Michael Acquah split Notre Dame defenders and rolled a shot just wide of the left post from atop the 18-yard box. The pressure remained on goalkeepers Tomas Hut and Irish freshman Blake Kelly throughout the first half, but the match went to its halftime break without a score.
Hardly more than eight minutes into the second half, Syracuse changed that score. An Orange cross from near the left corner flag trickled through a mass of bodies atop the 6-yard area and picked out Ben Rosenblatt alone at the far post. Just 12 yards from goal, Rosenblatt strode into a left-footed strike that blew past Kelly into the net’s upper left corner. Acquah, who deflected the Gabe Threadgold cross, registered an assist as Syracuse broke through and into a 1-0 lead.
Notre Dame, however, would equalize a mere five minutes later. After Nathan Scott nearly doubled the Syracuse lead with a bending shot from 20 yards away, the Irish set up a free kick on the attacking end’s left side. Jostling in the box left two Syracuse players on the deck as the ball arrived, leaving the Irish with a two-man advantage inside the 6-yard area. Junior defender Mitch Ferguson sent a right-to-left header across the goalmouth that freshman forward Stevie Dunphy couldn’t quite reach underneath the crossbar. Still, senior Matthew Roou waited patiently at the far post and loaded up a header of his own. The attempt barely cleared the reaching right leg of Scott before squeezing in between the bar and Hut’s skyward right hand.
Roou’s nation-leading 11th goal of the season not only tied the match for Notre Dame, but it propelled Roou into outright 13th place in program history for career goals (32) and a 16th-place tie for career points (74). The talisman now needs just three more goals to crack the all-time top 10.
Syracuse didn’t care to hear any of that in the moments after Roou’s tally. The Orange reclaimed their lead less than two minutes after the Irish had disbanded it, as Acquah rolled a right-to-left cross that leaked out into no man’s land on the weak side. Notre Dame lost sight of Threadgold, the left-most man for Syracuse, who sprinted onto the ball as it settled near the 6-yard area’s left corner. His low-line drive split the legs of both senior defender Kyle Genenbacher and Kelly on its way into the back of the net. As Threadgold ran off to strum the corner flag in celebration, Notre Dame faced another second-half deficit.
This one, unlike the first, would stand up. Hut made a huge save on Baffour in the 69th minute, as the creative midfielder opened up a lane to fire away with his left foot from the left corner of the 6-yard box. He then stopped another sharp-angle shot from senior midfielder Bryce Boneau on the right side, holding the ball against the right post. Notre Dame would press on in the final 15 minutes, sending Kelly all the way forward into the attacking third, but Syracuse hung up. Despite the 13-6 Irish shooting advantage and 6-1 corner-kick edge in the second half, all three points went to the Orange.
The Irish now look ahead and await another lengthy homestand of four games in duration. Notre Dame will host Michigan on Tuesday before facing No. 3 North Carolina in a huge match on Friday. Boston College and UIC will then visit after an eight-day break for the Irish.
Notre Dame and Michigan have faced off in every full season of men’s soccer dating back to 2006. Overall, the Irish are 16-3-4 against the Wolverines with three consecutive victories after a 3-0 win in Ann Arbor last year. The series’ last visit to South Bend in 2022 produced a thriller, as Daniel Russo delivered a hat trick to lead a come-from-behind Notre Dame victory.
This year, Michigan is 5-1-4 overall with a 1-1-3 record in Big Ten play. After receiving three votes in last week’s United Soccer Coaches poll, the Wolverines had a tough go at home on Friday, dropping a 6-3 result to No. 4 Ohio State. Michigan has not won a match since Sept. 13 against Penn State with three consecutive draws against Washington, UCLA and Rutgers preceding the loss to the Buckeyes.
Notre Dame’s match with Michigan on Tuesday will begin at 7 p.m. at Alumni Stadium and air on the ACC Network.
