A win would have clinched a home first-round game in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. A draw might have done it too. Syracuse entered Friday night’s scenarios knowing exactly what result would get it to play at SU Soccer Stadium next week, instead of a road trip, where the Orange have one win in four tries. 

“You work hard to put yourself in a position where you control your own destiny,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said.

When Ryan Raposo finished off a 20-yard free kick into the top corner to put Syracuse up 1-0, and Boston College’s Joe Kellett received a red card inside the first half, the Orange seemingly had the game in control. Syracuse (7-5-4, 2-4-2 ACC) unraveled, though, conceding two goals as Nyal Higgins picked up a red card himself in a 2-1 loss to BC (8-4-3, 2-4-2). 

After multiple other simultaneous upsets in the conference’s final night of regular season play, Syracuse is left looking at the standings, wondering what could have been. With a win, it’d have finished No. 5 in the nation’s best conference. 

Instead, Syracuse is No. 10 out of 12. It will play at No. 7 North Carolina on Tuesday at 4 p.m.. The two teams met once before, in Chapel Hill, and the Orange came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3.

“Tonight we didn’t take full advantage of that opportunity,” McIntyre said of having the chance to host. “We’re one up and a man up, we’re in control of the game.”

Raposo’s free kick was the culmination of a dominant first half for the Orange. SU outshot BC 10-4 in the opening frame, including four shots in the opening 11 minutes as the Orange’s pressure kept the Eagles scrambling.

Playing without Massimo Ferrin, who left the game with an injury six minutes in after starting, Raposo and Hilli Goldhar shared corner-taking duties, and the Orange failed to convert any of their chances. McIntyre said postgame that Ferrin’s injury will be evaluated on Sunday, and his status for the opening round is uncertain. 

Once Kellett was shown a straight red card, the Orange had a clear edge. An extra goal. An extra man. Yet less than a minute after Kellett was sent off, the Eagles scored a counterattack goal to level the match.

“We got caught on a counterattack and some poor defending cost us,” McIntyre said.

Amos Shapiro-Thompson’s goal in the 42 minute, three before halftime, turned the match. Syracuse generated just two shots in the opening 25 minutes of the second frame. Higgins picked up a yellow card in the 49th minute, which proved costly when his second yellow card got him sent off. 

Higgins will miss the first match of the ACC tournament due to suspension, leaving the Orange with a spot to fill in its usual back three of Sondre Norheim, Dylan McDonald and Higgins. 

“I thought it was a tough second yellow,” McIntyre said. “We talked about at halftime that if a player gets sent off,  the referees can do a bit of evening up, so you’ve got to be very careful.

The Orange had squandered their man advantage, and with the match level at 10 players and more space on the pitch, Boston College outshot SU 7-2, including the winning goal in the 78th minute by Michael Suski.

A goal that cost the Orange home field on Tuesday, and could have lasting implications for NCAA tournament seeding. The Orange entered Newton, Massachusetts knowing what three points meant.

But the Orange head back to Syracuse with zero. And they’ll have at least one more ACC road trip early next week because of it. 

“I don’t think we responded well second half,” McIntyre said. “We responded poorly to them going 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go. We’ve let one slip today.”

Published on November 1, 2019 at 10:34 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo