Syracuse men’s soccer: Orange show promise in 1-1 draw at Boston College

The Orange showed glimpses of real quality and control that can give fans hope at they enter ACC play

The Syracuse Orange men’s soccer team secured a 1-1 draw at Boston College on Friday evening after taking the lead in the first minute. While the Orange were unable to hold on for the win, the team enjoyed possibly their best overall performance this season.

The game started with a bang, and just seconds into the tie, a mistake from the BC defender gifted the ball to Michael Acquah. Acquah drove into the box and delivered a perfect ball into the feet of Gabe Threadgold, who slotted home cooly for his first goal in orange and blue.

Threadgold enjoyed probably his best game in Syracuse colors this season as a change in position and formation from Head Coach Ian McIntyre appeared to get the best out of him. Whilst Threadgold had played as the right wing-back in every game so far, he has shifted to the left this game, which allowed him to come in and use his preferred right foot to create opportunities for himself and his teammates.

Instead of opting for the usual setup of three midfielders and two attackers, McIntyre rewarded the excellent performances of Braedon Smith by starting him in the attacking unit with Acquah on the left and Nick Kaloukian through the middle.

Elton Chifamba and Nathan Scott played as the pair in midfield and did an excellent job controlling the tempo despite having one less body than usual playing alongside them. However, there were defensive issues with no ‘defensive’ midfielder lining up behind the two talented creators.

This shift in formation allowed the Orange to give more threat going forward and Smith and Threadgold down the left combined well and gave more continuity to the team between midfield and attacking phases.

With this improved continuity, the Orange enjoyed long spells on the ball in dangerous positions in the BC half. However, as the first half wore on, an issue with the Orange’s new lineup began to become clear.

With less bodies in the midfield, there were multiple occasions where BC players were able to skip by one midfielder and drive at the defense unopposed. There were a few moments of brilliance from the BC players in the first half to a similar tune as the Orange were unable to stop counter-attacking chances.

Mid-way through the half, one of these openings emerged as a BC player beat one midfielder and found all sorts of space as he drove at the defense. A bit of scrappy play in the box saw the ball fall to Michael Asare who blasted it home to make it 1-1.

Most of BC’s chances throughout the match came in similar fashion, but most of them were swept up by the Cuse defense. Those which weren’t handled were addressed by captain Tomas Hut in the Cuse net who was probably the best player on the field on the day.

The second half saw a few more chances for BC including these two in the last moments, but Hut came up big again to secure the 1-1 draw for the Orange.

Although the Orange had flashes of brilliance and quality throughout the match, they couldn’t keep it together for the whole evening and stop BC counter-attacks. Coach Mac’s attempts to address some of the teams problems from previous games created new ones, but the adaptions we saw along with the result give reason to be hopeful.

Every ACC match will be a difficult test for the Orange this season, but starting with a draw is certainly better than a loss. Cuse will need to string together longer periods of possession and defensive solidity if they want to compete for the ACC Championship, but Friday’s showing gives reason to be hopeful for Cuse fans.

The Orange return home for their next matchup which comes on Friday the 13th (spooky) at 7:30 in the SU Soccer Stadium against an undefeated Virginia Tech team. Cuse will be looking to pick up their first ACC win of the year with their home fans behind them, and the match should be both competitive and close. Stay tuned for all things Cuse soccer at Nunes Magician.