There was a considerable difference in Ian McIntyre’s postgame mood.

On Friday, he had the body language of a head coach who had just watched a national contender roll his team over. But Tuesday, he was much more upbeat, and the smile he put on for the media had more life to it.

“Someone just told me that’s the first goal we’ve scored against them in like 10 years,” McIntyre said. “So that was worth the wait.

“We haven’t had, in the last couple of years, this kind of win against an opponent like UConn. We were good tonight against a quality opponent.”

After a forgettable Friday shutout at the hands of then-No. 4 Notre Dame, Syracuse (4-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) bounced back to upset No. 12 Connecticut (2-2-1) 1-0 in front of 894 at SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange attack didn’t make huge strides from its home loss to the Irish, but it was enough to knock off a top-15 opponent whom it hadn’t scored against since October 2004.

Syracuse only registered one shot on goal during the entire game, as opposed to five by the Huskies, but it turned out to be enough.

“Attacking wise, we battled, we battled, we battled,” said freshman midfielder Alex Halis.

Halis had a beat on the Connecticut defense early on.

Seven minutes into the contest, Halis showcased some shifty moves outside the left side of the box, dancing around a trio of UConn defenders. He fired a pass toward the front of the net, but no teammate could get there in time to redirect it for a goal.

SU didn’t capitalize on the chance, but it was drawing closer.

In the 24th, Halis cashed in. Midfielder Nick Perea’s shot deflected off a Connecticut defender and rolled to the right side of the box. Halis charged into the open area.

A split second later, the ball was sitting in the bottom-left corner of the net.

“My first thought was just go to the net,” Halis said, “and the ball came to me. Just took my shot, and it went in.”

Two minutes later, SU nearly doubled its lead. Halis fed the ball to Emil Ekblom, standing at the top of the box with his back turned to the goal. Ekblom quickly turned to his left and ripped a shot headed for the bottom-right corner of the net, but it missed wide by just a few feet.

“We were organized, really committed and our use of the ball was pretty good,” McIntyre said. “We scored a good goal, and then I thought we had some chances to get a second one.”

The Huskies’ defense didn’t make it easy for the Orange; 6-foot-3 center back Sergio Campbell was consistently an imposing presence in the box defensively for Connecticut.

In the final 10 minutes of the half, Halis got a step on his defender and headed toward the box, but Campbell stepped in to thwart his drive. The speedy Noah Rhynhart had a glimpse of an opportunity in the attacking third, but again the junior defender was there to body him up and take the ball away.

Seven minutes into the second frame, Syracuse thought it had its second goal of the game on a Chris Nanco finish from Ekblom. But the referee waved it off, calling a foul on Nanco for colliding with Connecticut goalkeeper Andre Blake before scoring.

For the rest of the game, the Orange twice had open looks from the top of the box – a left-footed shot by Halis, and another attempt by Oyvind Alseth – but twice SU watched the ball sail over the net.

But as it would turn out, SU’s missed opportunities weren’t fatal.

“They happen,” said midfielder Stefanos Stamoulacatos. “But we finished the one that we needed to.”

Published on September 18, 2013 at 1:07 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb