Syracuse men’s soccer: Orange’s season ends with ACC Tournament loss against Wake Forest

The Orange took the lead early, but collapsed in the late stages as Wake beat the Orange 2-1 for the second time this season.

The Syracuse Orange men’s soccer team (7-7-3 (2-4-2)) were knocked out of the ACC Tournament after losing at Wake Forest on Wednesday evening. This result effectively ends SU’s season as they will not finish with a high enough ranking to qualify to the NCAA Tournament.

The Orange entered the match with buoyed hopes after earning their best result of the season with a 2-0 win over #3 Pitt at home. Despite this positive result, the Orange’s other hiccups throughout the season left them likely needing a ACC Tournament Championship if they wanted to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Wake Forest finished their season with an 8-4-5 record and a 4-2-2 record in the ACC, finishing as the 5th-best team. They came into this match with two wins in their last three.

The last time the two teams met in late September, the Orange took the lead partway through the second half before collapsing late on and conceding two goals to lose 2-1.

Wake’s Dylan Borso was man of the match in that game with a goal and an assist in combination with an excellent overall performance. Trace Alphin in the Deacon’s net has also been a rock at the back, conceding just over one goal a game. Luckily for the Orange, some of the Deacons’ key players missed the game through injury, but this wasn;t enough to make the difference.

The Orange started the match with a 4-3-3, venturing away from Head Coach Ian McIntyre’s typical 3-5-2. Michael Acquah and Gabe Threadgold started on the wings, with Carlos Zambrano up top.

The midfield behind them featured the veteranted Elton Chifamba, Nathan Scott, and starring freshman who scored a beauty against Pitt, Kritjan Fortier. Ben Rosenblatt and Chimere Omeze started in the fullback areas, with Sam Layton, Andre Cutler-DeJesus, and Tomas Hut anchoring the side.

The early phases of play didn’t provide much to write home about. Most of the game was in the Orange’s defensive half, with Wake earning a few different set-piece opportunities but nothing clear-cut.

Cuse was more than happy to sit deep and absorb Wake’s pressure, focusing on defensive solidity above all else. When in possession, the Orange were slow and calculated, not making as many risky passes as usual as they sought to control the pace of the game.

In the 16th minute, the Orange decided to take some risks to progress the ball forward. Michael Acquah, who drifted off to the right throughout the match, showed a great bit of individual skill and tenacity, beating his defender. Acquah had the quality at the end of the move as well and he played in a beautiful cross, which was tapped home by Threadgold.

Coming off of a red-card ban, Acquah, the SU assist leader, looked to be in high confidence as his hard work and movement were critical contributions to the Orange’s performance.

Following the early goal, the Deacons started to throw more men forward in an attempt to get back in the game but still struggled to find anything concrete. The Orange made a few substitutions to keep control of the match and also generated a few more scoring chances as a result.

Towards the end of the half, Wake’s pressure did result in a few more dangerous opportunities, but they were unable to break the stalwart pair of Sam Layton and Andre Cutler-DeJesus at the back. Tomas Hut was also called into action on a few occasions.

Despite the flurry of opportunities, the Orange defense put their bodies on the line in countless situations, allowing their team to hold the lead and enter the halftime break up 1-0. The Orange squad was clearly very motivated, and this showed through their effort throughout the half and into the second.

The Orange again looked to play risk-averse soccer in the second half as they dominated possession and connected more passes than we typically see from SU. With this control in the front of the team’s minds, they easily played some of their best soccer this year, out-possessing the Deacons and generating a similar amount of shots.

It wasn’t until the 60th minute when Wake really turned up the pressure in a hunt for a goal that would keep their season alive. Despite the control that SU had seen throughout the match, a scuffle in the 69th minute between Layton and Deacs forward Julian Kennedy in the box resulted in a seemingly inadvertent handball on Layton. Cooper Flax punched home the resulting penalty, and the game was all tied up.

The Deacons were clearly inspired by the breakthrough as they continued to up the pressure, taking the game to SU who were forced to foul on a few occasions to stay in the game.

With seven minutes remaining in the game, a cross from Borso found the head of Travis Smith Jr., who gave the Deacons the lead. This now marks the second game against Wake, where Cuse had taken the lead only to choke it away with two late concessions.

The Orange piled men forward in the closing minutes in an attempt to earn an equalizer, but the whistle blew with the score 2-1; their season was over.

Following this tough-to-swallow result, the Orange will have to set their sights on recruitment and the offseason as they prepare for 2025.

With plenty of talented young players on the roster, there is hope and optimism to be had, but Coach McIntyre and the staff will have to convince these players to stay and keep the band together. If SU can keep and develop this young core, and add a few more quality signings, next year has plenty of potential to see them return to the NCAA Tournament.