The last time Syracuse qualified for the Big East tournament was in 2005.

At that point in time, Nick Bibbs had no idea he’d come to Syracuse. Jordan Vale was 11 years old and tearing up youth soccer leagues in New Zealand. And head coach Ian McIntyre was in his third season at Hartwick College.

Seven years later, Syracuse (12-4, 5-2) earned a spot in the conference championship after a 2-0 win over DePaul (3-10-3, 0-6-1) on Saturday night at SU Soccer Stadium. SU, the No. 2 seed in the Red Division, will host a postseason game for the first time in program history on Nov. 3. McIntyre credits his seniors for sticking with the program and changing the culture.

“People keep looking for something drastic and dramatic that’s different than last year,” McIntyre said. “The guys that have been through it the last two years are the reason we’ve turned it around.”

The seniors suffered through an 8-37-6 record through three seasons.

Bibbs said he never thought he’d have a chance to play at a program like Syracuse and called coming to SU “a dream come true.”

One of the players McIntyre called the “cultural architects” of the team, Bibbs has helped turn SU Soccer Stadium into a fan-friendly, electrifying venue. As the team has improved, so has the stadium.

Bibbs and teammate Mark Brode recalled one day during the 2010 season when McIntyre asked the players to stay on the field for a little while after practice.

After doing fitness earlier in the day, it was the last thing the players wanted to do.

When they found out the task at hand was to move enormous boards around, Brode’s level of excitement went down even further.

“We were so tired,” Brode said. “Mac was like ‘Guys, it’s only gonna take 20 minutes.’ They were the heaviest — I mean the heaviest things. We were out there for an hour and a half.”

Those boards are now staples of a new-and-improved stadium, which has drawn record crowds during the turnaround season.

Last Saturday night, 1,450 people watched the Orange knock off DePaul to clinch a berth in the Big East tournament. Louis Clark said the stadium was empty late last October as the team played out another losing season.

“Now the weather’s better and we’re winning,” Clark said. “It’s just amazing. We all try to do our best to get people to the games. When the lights are on for the night games you just get a buzz and come out flying. It’s a great feeling.”

As the stadium and fans have come together, Syracuse has emerged as a legitimate contender in the Big East. When the Orange travels to St. John’s on Friday night, it will already have locked up the No. 2 seed in the Red Division.

SU is usually an underdog in its matchups with the Red Storm, and the Orange is 0-6-2 against SJU in the teams’ last eight games. McIntyre said St. John’s has been the benchmark of Big East soccer through the years and that his team is up for a challenge on Friday night.

Clark said St. John’s is the fittest team the Orange will play all year.

“They’re a really, really difficult team, especially on the road,” Clark said. “They can run all day. That’s going to be a good one.”

While the excitement of the tournament is on the horizon, Ted Cribley and his teammates are taking it one game at a time and preparing for St. John’s.

“Hopefully we can carry on and make it to the final four at the Red Bull Arena, and eventually make it to the national tournament,” Cribley said. “But first we’re going to concentrate on the next game.”

Published on October 23, 2012 at 2:55 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass