Nanco bags 3rd goal in Syracuse’s 3-1 win over Wake Forest, breaks scoring drought
Logan Reidsma | Staff Photographer
Chris Nanco had waited a long time since his last goal, but sealed Syracuse's 3-1 win over Wake Forest with a tally late in the second half on Friday night.
Chris Nanco stuck his arms out and flipped his head back as a wide grin escaped his face.
After waiting 33 days, seven games and 20 shots, he had scored a goal.
“Finally, it’s good to put a goal in the back of the net,” Nanco said.
The sophomore striker provided No. 4 Syracuse (11-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) with a three-goal cushion after scoring in the 70th minute in its eventual 3-1 win over Wake Forest (6-6, 2-3) at SU Soccer Stadium on Friday.
All game and all season he’d been knocking on the door, out-running opponents, getting ahead of opposing defenses, but only scoring two goals. It took until Friday for him to get his third goal of the season.
“I thought (Nanco) was outstanding tonight,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “He started very quickly. He caused them a threat.”
The goal came off a pass from Emil Ekblom, who was positioned with the ball 15 yards from goal. He fed a quick pass toward the net, and Nanco met it just a couple feet out. He tapped it in, and the Syracuse bench players ran over to congratulate him.
The goal came after a flurry of chances for the Nanco. In the fifth minute, his shot hit off Alec Ferrell, Wake Forest’s goalkeeper, and right back out to him. He shot it again only for the ball to slide to the right of the goal.
When he finally got his chance to score from Ekblom, though, he screamed the fellow striker’s name multiple times. Ekblom looked up, passed it and Nanco made the opportunity count.
“I see a lot of space and Chris had a defender and all I had to do was put it in there for him,” Ekblom said.
This week, Nanco said he had been teased by his teammates for his scoring drought. He had shown signs of life, assisting on SU’s lone goal in its 1-0, double-overtime win at Virginia Tech, but being the one to celebrate on Friday was an admitted confidence boost.
“Being a striker for the team, it’s my job to score goals,” Nanco said, “so if I can’t do that for the team it feels bad.
“But today was a good day.”
Published on October 10, 2014 at 10:16 pm
Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3
