Chris Nanco punched the ground and yelled out in frustration. The senior forward went to send a cross into the middle of the box when he was tackled by two Boston College defenders. As he pulled his hand up from the ground, grass flew and his hands rifled high in the air, both knees still planted on the ground.

“Where’s the call,” Nanco yelled.

Redshirt senior midfielder Liam Callahan and senior midfielder Oyvind Alseth sprinted over to the officials, demanding for a penalty but got nothing in return except a stern warning to go back to playing.

“It was a clear foul,” Nanco said. “There was clear contact.”

This was the kind of physical play that dominated Friday night’s game at SU Soccer Stadium. The No. 5 Orange (7-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) defeated No. 15 Boston College (4-2, 1-1), 2-0, but the bad blood dates back to last year when Syracuse defeated the Eagles in the NCAA tournament to move to its first College Cup in team history.

Both sides traded blows early on, and as the game progressed, tempers began to flare.

“These are fun nights,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “These were two teams beating the snot out of each other and that’s what makes our game attractive.”

In the 24th minute, freshman forward Johannes Pieles received a yellow card for a hit to the knee of BC’s Zeiko Lewis.

Twelve minutes later, Nanco turned off a pass, spun around an Eagles defender and headed straight for the box. He quickly made his way to the edge, ready to send a cross to Kenny Lassiter when he was struck by two BC defenders.

“You can’t do that,” yelled a raucous Syracuse crowd.

But no call was made as the Orange players erupted in frustration.

A Jonathan Hagman goal in the 50th minute only mounted the tension. One minute later a cross was sent Nanco’s way. As he ran toward the goal from the left side, he leapt into the air for the header, but was taken out from underneath by Boston College’s Joshua Forbes. Nanco and Forbes had been battling all night, but this time looked vicious. Forbes came underneath an airborne Nanco, as the SU forward quickly came toppling down on his right shoulder.

This time, Nanco slapped both hands on the ground in anger. But just as the first hit, no foul was called. Callahan argued with an official and an Eagles defender.

“All they were trying to do was get fouls and slow the game down,” Alseth said.

In the 76th minute, Callahan took a shoulder and elbow to the back as he went up for a header. Callahan laid on the ground for several minutes as the official pulled a red card on BC freshman defender Younes Boudadi. A warning followed to Forbes who punched the ground following Boudadi’s ejection.
SU was quick to respond with a hit of its own though. Less than a minute later, Boston College’s Fintan Devlin rose up for a header. He was met by a surging John-Austin Ricks who sent Devlin tumbling to the ground and out of the game. After a few minutes on the ground with assistance from a trainer, Devlin walked off under his own power, but kept a hand on his face and forehead.
About 10 minutes later, Callahan was the victim of a nasty slide tackle that again resulted in a no-call. Players from both sides quickly began surrounding the officials following the tackle.

“Don’t get involved, Liam” McIntyre yelled from the sidelines. “Go be a senior, Louis.”

Senior defender Louis Cross and Callahan turned to McIntyre with their arms raised.

“I didn’t do anything, coach,” Callahan yelled.

When the final three minutes came around, Nanco stole the ball from an Eagles defender and booted it over the fence surrounding the field. He turned around and stared down the line of the Boston College bench, the final stare down in a game full of them.

“There’s no doubt they’ll be another chapter,” McIntyre said. “We’ve had some really good battles with Boston College in the last few years. This is what makes rivalries and these are the intense battles that you want to be in.”

Published on September 17, 2016 at 12:19 am

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu