Of the 50 goals and assists Syracuse recorded in 2013, only four came from players who typically came off the bench.

Noah Rhynhart, Brandon Albert and the now-departed Grant Chong were the only three players to see significant minutes as substitutes for a team that relied heavily on at set defense and young attack.

Fast-forward one year and Syracuse’s depth is greatly improved. Head coach Ian McIntyre said he’s comfortable playing 17 or 18 players from this roster in the course of a game. SU’s depth is something that highlighted its undefeated preseason, and could be on display when the Orange opens the regular season against Niagara at SU Soccer Stadium at 2 p.m. on Friday. 

Thanks to a few additions and the growth of Syracuse’s returning young core, McIntyre expects to have more weapons at his disposal this year.

“At the end of the day you win a game with 11 players,” McIntyre said. “But it also allows us to play at a high tempo so that if required, we can provide a little bit of a rest.”

In the Orange’s first preseason game against Hartwick on Aug. 16, Syracuse scored three goals in the last 20 minutes in an eventual 4-1 win. 

Rhynhart scored the second and game-winning goal with 19:41 remaining. Last year, he appeared in 16 games but didn’t get a start in a single one.

And though Rhynhart hasn’t started any of the 29 games he’s appeared in for SU, he’ll continue to provide blistering pace to lead the Orange’s reserves.

“It really hurts the team if I come in and take 5–10 minutes to warm up,” Rhynhart said. “I’m ready on the bench, warming up for a good 5–10 minutes before I get in, and I just have the mindset that I’m going to go in and make a difference.”

In the Orange’s second preseason game against Akron on Friday, it was substitutes Emil Ekblom and Nanco that combined for the first goal in an eventual 2-1 win.

Nanco was recovering from an injury and it’s likely he’ll find himself in the first 11 after starting 17-of-18 games last year, but he noted how Syracuse’s offensive depth can support starters tiring out. 

“We didn’t have as much depth as this year, so with guys coming off the bench it adds more of an attacking threat when guys get tired,” Nanco said. “At all times of the game, we’ll have attacking power up front and guys to help us win games.”

With the rigorous schedule providing minimal rest in between games throughout the upcoming season, it’s paramount that the Orange has fresh legs off the bench. 

McIntyre highlighted several other players that could have an effect early in the season, including freshman Julian Buescher, a trio of transfers in Liam Callahan, Korab Syla and Louis Cross, and redshirt junior Tyler Hilliard, who is coming off an injury in 2013.

“The new guys like Julian and the transfers, they’ve been really working hard in training, just helping us build as a team and making all the guys work harder,” Nanco said. “It’s very good for them to help us build as a team like that.”

It’s competition that would provide Syracuse with even more experience and talent off the bench, giving the coaching staff the luxury of more options to choose from late in games.

“This year, more than any of the previous years I’ve been here, it’s really been a push for playing time for all the players,” Rhynhart said. “All the way through our whole team, we have guys that can come in and step in at any position.”

Published on August 28, 2014 at 12:05 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman