It didn’t take long for Alex Halis to put the Notre Dame defense on its heels after he came in with 15 minutes left in the first half.

Halis was the first substitute used off the bench by head coach Ian McIntyre, and immediately created a multitude of chances in the final third after Syracuse wasn’t able to muster any serious threats for the first half hour.

He was at the forefront of SU’s desperate attempt at a comeback in the final stages of the game and although none of his created chances or own attempts were converted, Halis was still the brightest spot in No. 20 Syracuse’s (4-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) attack that lacked the finishing touch in a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Notre Dame (3-1-1, 1-0 ACC) at SU Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.

“I saw the way we were playing in the first bit that I wasn’t on,” Halis said. “I just wanted to bring that energy, pick the guys up, try to hold my part on the field.”

Within five minutes of entering the game, Halis had combined with Emil Ekblom multiple times, resulting in two shots from Halis that were deflected out for corner kicks.

In the first 30 minutes, Syracuse advanced the ball but several crosses into the box come up empty. Halis provided a north-to-south threat that went right at the Fighting Irish back four and forced them to clear the ball on the ground rather than in the air.

“Alex Halis tonight was awesome coming off the bench,” McIntyre said. “… really gave us a spark.”

With 28 minutes left in the game, Halis put the Notre Dame defense on skates, beating the right back one-on-one before lofting a cross into the middle that just missed the head of Nick Perea.

Shortly thereafter, Halis used the same move but this time put a cross in on the ground. It barely evaded Ekblom’s feet, and escaped through a sea of players in the 6-yard area before trickling out on the other side of the box.

“Unfortunately no one was there and it kind of slipped away from Emil a little bit,” Halis said. “But it’ll come.”

And after being restricted to a substitutes’ role for the first five games of the season, Halis made a claim for a starting one.

In a game that lacked the quality ball into the box, something that McIntyre has often stressed, Halis provided a brief respite from those struggles.

Said Halis: “My main focus was to take a couple guys on, drag them forward, create some space and just get in the box.”

Published on September 13, 2014 at 11:19 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman