Syracuse forward Chris Nanco fired a low shot from inside the box and put his hands to his head as Hofstra goalie Patric Pray easily scooped up the ball. A minute later, Orange midfielder Korab Syla blasted a shot from the same spot that curved to the right of the net. Syla jumped in the air and grabbed his head, too.

SU trailed Hofstra by one with five minutes left and was watching each chance it had end unsuccessfully. Midfielder Juuso Pasanen got one more shot with less than a minute left, but it rattled the crossbar from 30 yards away.

“We were a little bit unfortunate to come away with nothing,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said.

The Orange led the Pride 19-9 in shots and 11-4 in shots on goal, but No. 15 Syracuse (0-1) fell to Hofstra (1-0), 2-1, at Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, New York to open the season.

Freshman Austin Aviza started in net for the Orange and finished with two saves. Forward Oyvind Alseth netted SU’s only goal on a penalty shot 70:30 into the game and Nanco led the team with five shots.

“I thought we did enough to take a couple things away from this game, but that’s our sport,” McIntyre said. “You can create opportunities … but these games are tightly contested. They can go either way.”

SU controlled the ball for much of the first half, putting five shots on goal and leaving Hofstra with none. The Orange earned four corners and neither Aviza nor Syracuse’s back line were tested much.

In the final minutes of the first half, a 45-yard cross by a Syracuse player hit off the top post. SU defender Miles Robinson headed the rebound to the right side of the net past the goalie, but Hofstra defender Nino Alfonso was there to head the shot away.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Syracuse midfielder Liam Callahan pulled down a Hofstra forward as a cross came into the box. Callahan went to the sideline with a red card and Pride midfielder Joseph Holland scored on the penalty kick.

Aviza dove to his right, but Holland’s shot went to the opposite side of the net.

Five minutes later, Hofstra took advantage of the extra man as an undefended Henry Crayton scored from 10 yards out on a play that “happened very quickly,” McIntyre said.

“It was kind of a double whammy to concede a penalty and have a man sent off,” McIntyre said. “… We didn’t respond as well as we should have.”

After Orange midfielder Julian Buescher was fouled in the box, Alseth brought SU back within one on the ensuing penalty kick. Syracuse sent additional men forward in the offensive zone near end of the game, but could never get the tying goal.

Syracuse returns to action at Bucknell (1-0) on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Published on August 28, 2015 at 11:13 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus