A 90-minute regulation period couldn’t provide a winner between Syracuse and Clemson. Neither could two 10-minute overtime periods nor five penalty kicks. On the sixth, and final, set of penalties, Harrison Kurtz bested SU goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert. With the game on the line, Orange forward Johannes Pieles stood over the ball and fired a shot toward the right of the Tiger goalie.

The Orange has struggled to convert in the final third all season. It hampered the team in its first losing season since 2011. It contributed to the fact that SU entered the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament without a conference win. Traveling to South Carolina to face a team it lost to earlier in the year, Syracuse again couldn’t find the finishing ability it has looked for all season.

Pieles’ shot smacked the right goalpost with a thud. The sound of SU’s season potentially ending was replaced with the cheers of its rivals. The fifth-seeded Tigers (11-4-1, 4-4 ACC) outlasted 12th-seeded Syracuse (6-8-4, 0-6-2), 4-3, on penalty kicks and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. The Orange was outshot (21-10), committed more fouls (25-16) and conceded more corners (17-4), yet still extended the game. In the shootout, each team missed high and each keeper made a save, which made Pieles’ shot the difference in a night where only inches separated the two sides. With the loss, SU likely won’t receive an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.

“The season is over,” SU head coach McIntyre said. “We’re done.”

Throughout the week, McIntyre referred to the game as “Clemson Part Seven.” In the last three years, SU and Clemson have battled six times. Each contest had been decided by one goal.

Clemson’s first quality chance came in the 12th minute. The Tigers worked the ball down the right side of SU’s defense as the Orange backline and Hilpert converged A quick pass gave Tanner Dieterich an open net. His shot rolled low on the ground and would’ve put the Tigers ahead if not for the hustle of Kamal Miller. The junior defender stopped the shot with his left foot and preserved the tie. Later in the first, Jason Wright sprinted past the SU backline on a cross and connected with a header that beat Hilpert but rattled off the cross bar.

Courtesy of Daniel Green | Clemson Athletics

“There were times we were going have to absorb some pressure,” McIntyre said. “We did that. We made some adjustments in the second half that would cause them some problems.”

In the 70th minute, Tajon Buchanan worked down SU’s right wing and dribbled past two defenders. His shot slotted in the near post and past Ximo Miralles. After the goal, Buchanan ran towards the sideline, back-flipped and stared at the Clemson bench. The freshman who spent all season dazzling fans with his footwork and frustrating them with his lack of finishing put Syracuse ahead.

Ten minutes after Buchanan’s goal, Clemson responded. Senior Saul Chinchilla darted toward Hilpert and tapped in the equalizer before Hilpert could grab an Oliver Shannon cross. After Clemson’s Patrick Bunk-Andersen gave the Tigers the lead later in the second half, a broken play gave Syracuse an tie in the 89th minute.

Jan Breitenmoser crossed a ball to the far post, Pieles leapt and collided with Miralles. The ball bounced off the post, onto Miralles face and in the net. Orange players jumped in the air and celebrated. Referee Charles Murphy reviewed the play on a video monitor before he confirmed the score.

“We threw everything at them in the last couple minutes,” McIntyre said. “Thankfully, Pieles found a way to put the ball over the line.”

A back and forth first overtime period yielded to a one-sided second. The Tigers recorded four of its 17 corners then. When SU touched the ball, it booted it down the field. Yet, SU and Hilpert survived and pushed the game into penalty kicks. Then, Syracuse’s lack of finishing held it back one last time.

“When the game gets to a shootout,” McIntyre said. “it kind of comes down to a lottery … Unfortunately we didn’t get our noses over the line.”

Published on November 1, 2017 at 11:13 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez