HAMILTON, N.Y.—Throughout its three-game losing streak, its longest in six years, Syracuse had only managed two goals on 26 shots. The Orange had hit posts, missed open nets and failed to finish premium chances. A win against a Colgate team on its own three-game losing streak would serve as a palette cleanser. A loss would only pile more questions onto a team looking to replace two-thirds of its scoring and a large chunk of the backline.

“It’s been a tough week,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “I think both teams were a little bit desperate tonight.”

On Monday night against Colgate, SU finally converted.

An offensive display put No. 11 SU (5-3-2, 0-2-1 Atlantic Coast) back in the win column, cruising past Colgate (3-6, 0-1 Patriot), 2-0, at Beyer-Small ’76 Field. SU still hit the post once, still missed a door-step goal, but ultimately did enough to record its first shutout of the year and first win in 13 days.

“We didn’t want to say it,” midfielder Jonathan Hagman said. “but it was a must-win today.”

During the scoring slump, the Orange failed to capitalize on possession and shot advantages early in games. On Monday night, however, its offensive creativity materialized into a score. In the ninth minute, Hagman darted down the left side of the formation and tried to turn the corner when his legs were swept underneath him. Five feet from the penalty box, Hugo Delhommelle stood over the ball and peered to his right where Mo Adams stood ready for the short pass.

McIntyre knew going into the game that Raider goalkeeper Peter Tappenden could be challenged on set pieces. From the sidelines, McIntyre shouted at his team four times, “Get in the box, Hugo shot.” The Frenchman short-chopped his steps as Adams moved away. He struck the ball with his right foot and tucked the free kick into the top corner of the net. The junior-transfer watched as the ball bent out wide and curved into the goal. After the shot, he turned around and shook his head.

“There was a feeling tonight like nothing could stop us,” Hagman said. “We were prepared.”

SU tallied 19 corner kicks but only two scores in its three-game slide. But on its third corner of the night, 28 minutes after its first goal, SU continued to finish where it hadn’t before. Delhommelle stood over the ball for a corner, this time on the goalkeepers left side. Adnan Bakalovic went over to the flag for a short corner and again McIntyre yelled to give Delhommelle some space.

Delhommelle rose his right hand and Johannes Pieles cut toward the near post. The ball was sent in and Pieles flicked it into the net.  After the sophomore-forward was mobbed by white jersey’s, McIntyre yelled to his team, “Come on, we’ve got to go again.”

“That second one was big for us tonight,” McIntyre said. “To get a little bit of separation between the two teams.”

Syracuse controlled possession and held Colgate scoreless  in the second half. In the final 25 minutes, SU made defensive substitutions but kept up the pressure, not allowing the Raiders thread passes together or create any momentum.

After Syracuse’s last loss three days prior to Duke, McIntyre praised his team’s offensive effort but admitted it’s a “results-based industry.” On Monday night, he labeled this performance as his team’s best to date. The offense was there, the scoring was there and the result finally ended in SU’s favor.

“I would say, finally,” Delhommelle said when asked how it felt to end the losing streak. “You don’t know how it was this week, coming off three loses in a row.”

Published on September 25, 2017 at 9:15 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez