Syracuse men’s soccer: Orange concede late equalizer at Louisville in 1-1 draw

The Orange were held to a draw again in Kentucky and remain winless in ACC play

The Syracuse Orange men’s soccer team (3-2-3, 0-1-2) put on a near-perfect display for 89 minutes against Louisville at the Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium on Friday night before conceding a late goal to make it 1-1.

Despite hopes of a first ACC win being killed off, the Orange will have some positives to take from this experience as they had an outstanding defensive performance on the road, only conceding two shots on target.

Both teams fielded pretty defensive lineups to start the match with both sides opting for five-at-the-back formations to shut down opponent chances. The Orange started their typical three center-backs of Chimere Omeze, Sam Layton, and Andre Cutler-DeJesus, but also lined up with three other players who have typically played defensive or wingback roles this season in Ben Rosenblatt, Giona Leibold, and Gabe Threadgold.

The introduction of Rosenblatt into the starting lineup gave the other widemen more license to go forward, and both had good days from a creative standpoint with this increased freedom.

Across from this Cuse defense stood Gage Guerra, who netted twice last season at the SU Soccer stadium, including a very late goal to secure a 2-2 draw. Sander Roed, arguably the Cardinals’ best player, had 14 goal contributions last season and already has four in seven games this season.

The game was pretty dull in the first half, but the Orange thought they had scored just five minutes in when Nick Kaloukian got on the end of a perfectly weighted Daniel Burko pass but was called for offsides after smashing it home.

With both sides looking to minimize mistakes and opposition chances, the game was a pretty dull watch as the main points of interest were the combative battles for possession in the midfield. The Orange ended the game with six yellow cards and clearly wanted to impose their will on the game which they did through physical, front foot defending.

As time wore on into the second half, both coaches opted for more attacking substitutions, and the game began to open up. Headed opportunities for Kaloukian and Omeze, as well as a low-driven shot from Burko, began to put the pressure on Harvey Sellers in the Cards net.

With 17 minutes left to play, key freshman Braedon Smith showed his pace and work-rate to pick the pocket of a Card’s defender. The passive defending from Louisville allowed Smith to drive into space and chip a cross into the box.

Sellers, who had been under pressure in the second half bobbled the ball with Kaloukian right in his face. The ball dropped right to the feet of Daniel Burko who showed his composure and technique to slot the ball away expertly before wheeling away in celebration.

This goal made it two in two for Burko, who has recently seen a big uptick in minutes thanks to his quality performances.

1-0 down at home, it was Louisville’s time to turn up the pressure. The Cardinals found their first shot on target of the night in the 73rd minute as a scramble in the box saw the ball drop kindly for Noah De Blasis. His half-volley was driven hard and low but was expertly saved by Tomas Hut, bailing the Orange out again with an excellent reflex save.

With two minutes left, Braedon Smith had a chance to put the game to bed as he picked another defender’s pocket and was through on goal, but his shot was expertly saved.

Louisville broke the other way, eventually earning a set-piece opportunity right outside the SU box. Sander Roed stepped up with 46 seconds left on the clock and slotted the ball perfectly into the bottom right corner of Hut’s goal, equalizing for the Cardinals.

This was the second free-kick goal that Hut has conceded in the last three games, and this could certainly be an area of improvement for the Orange. Giving away free-kicks around the box has allowed for dangerous chances for both Virginia Tech and Louisville, and Hut and the wall perhaps could have been set up better to block the opportunity.

The match ended 1-1 and the Orange were sent home disappointed despite probably being the better team and leading on the scoreboard until the final minute.

Following this disappointing result, the Orange will head home to the SU Soccer Stadium for a matchup with local rivals Cornell at 7pm on September 24. This match will be a good test for the Orange, and one they will certainly want to win after losing in Ithaca last year. Stay tuned for updates on that game and all things Syracuse soccer.