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Christian Curti angrily clapped his hands after watching his header attempt skip away from the right crossbar, putting his head down as he ran out of the box. But two minutes later, when NC State’s Ivy Brisma lined up for a corner kick on the far end of the pitch, Curti eyed down the forward through the sea of jerseys waiting for the kick. He quickly headed the ball away, flipping the possession.

In the next two minutes, Curti continued to make up for his missed header. He won the next 50-50 ball of a kick in from Wolfpack goalkeeper Leon Krapf. Then he won another. The final win led to the Orange gaining possession on a throw-in that turned into a shot opportunity from Hilli Goldhar.

With the final minutes in regulation ticking away, Curti found himself in a similar situation after pushing his man in an attempt to win the header. The referee called a foul to prompt a free kick. This was in the midst of the Wolfpack turning up the pressure on SU. Once again, Curti lined up in the front center of the pack to await the free kick. And once again, his header from the top line of the box neutralized NC State’s attempt.

Head coach Ian McIntyre has consistently complimented his backline throughout the year. Prior to the season, he said he was looking forward to what the new group could do together. While he changed up the formations during Friday’s game — Goldhar started in just his second game of the year — Syracuse (6-5-2, 1-3-1 Atlantic Coast) finished with its fourth clean sheet of the season in a goalless tie against NC State (5-4-2, 0-3-2 Atlantic Coast).

“It was important with how we lined up tonight that all of us stepped up to win 50-50 balls,” Curti said.

McIntyre told the Marist transfer before the game that he needed to step up against the Wolfpack. Curti works on his headers as much as anyone, but Friday night’s pregame talk forced him to mentally prepare to win the majority of headers. And whether it was receiving a cross, corner kick or fighting for a ball high in the Syracuse sky, Curti did that.

During the first overtime, Curti fouled again. This time, he dragged down his defender in a fight for possession on the ground. It was a free kick from midfield, and Curti orchestrated the same steps he did in the previous two instances.

Curti noted that NC State didn’t have much going for it offensively. The Wolfpack entered the match with just three players scoring multiple goals this season. Curti said the Orange were just looking to generate free kicks and score off headers. He knew that each time he drew a foul, he could correct the mistake to hold up his position.

“If I was the one that gave up the foul, I kind of felt like it was my responsibility to win headers,” Curti said.

But McIntyre didn’t just compliment Curti tonight. He individually named each defensive player that allowed goalkeeper Russell Shealy to have a calm night, each player that helped give up just five total shots from NC State. Ten minutes into the first period, Olu Oyegunle stepped back as Brisma and Pepe Garcia tried a give-and-go play. He patiently waited for an opportunity to pounce on the ball and eventually found enough light to steal it away from Garcia. His ensuing kick went out of bounce, forcing the Wolfpack to start from scratch on that possession.

Buster Sjoberg found his own opportunity later in the game. During the second half, Sjoberg chased down a loose ball, outrunning Henrique Santos. He seemed like he had successfully won possession to avert a Wolfpack shot on goal. But then Santos chased him down to the far corner. He spent five seconds working on Santos, his eyes never breaking view with the ball. Eventually, he found enough space to kick it back to Deandre Kerr at midfield.

“They were playing so well (in the) second half,” McIntyre said. I thought (Oyegunle), (Sjoberg) and Curti were terrific. Russell (Shealy), when called upon … looked assured.”

Even Noah Singelmann, who typically plays more in the middle of the field, utilized his physical style to win balls inside. That style eventually annoyed some of North Carolina’s players, however, and culminated in a shove that would stop play for nearly 10 minutes. Brisma and Singelmann battled at midfield. Then the ball trickled out to the ref’s table. The two sprinted toward the ball as it headed out of bounce, Singelmann switching his vision between the ball and the left shoulder of Brisma. Then Singelmann threw himself into Brisma. A no-call on the hit led to a shouting match, the end of which saw Brisma’s disqualification and NC State’s entire bench being issued a yellow card.

“When the other team went down a man, you can kind of lose focus on what you do … winning the 50-50s is always a good thing,” Curti said.

Two minutes into the second overtime could have been where the Orange allowed yet another late goal. Shealy whiffed on a give-and-go with Goldhar — the mental mistake Syracuse has mentioned in reference to allowing late-game goals. NC State’s Yaniv Bazini jumped on the ball and tried to get a shot attempt off, but Amferny Sinclair bolted inside the box to hinder the shot and polish off Shealy’s mistake.

“The last couple of overtime games in the ACC we’ve lost, so it’s nice to come away with something,” McIntyre said.

Published on October 8, 2021 at 11:56 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt