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North Carolina forward Jonathan Jimenez battled the Syracuse backline to keep possession of the ball in the box with under five minutes left in double overtime. Jimenez sent a cross to teammate Aldair Sanchez, who was standing at the top left of SU’s box. But before Sanchez could take a shot, Orange defender Christian Curti tackled him and sent him to the ground, giving the Tar Heels a penalty shot. Milo Garvanian sent the attempt past Russell Shealy, who dove to his right, sending UNC to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals. 

Curti’s costly yellow card was Syracuse’s (8-8-2, 2-5-1 ACC) fourth of the match and tied a season-high in its 1-0 loss to North Carolina (11-5-1, 5-4-0 ACC). The Orange also committed 25 fouls, the most in a single game all season, and the most since 2019. Fouls have been an issue for the Orange all season — before Wednesday, Syracuse had committed a season-high of 22 fouls in three separate matches (Cornell, Virginia and Pittsburgh) and led the conference with 263 fouls.

The first 10 minutes of the match immediately set the tone for SU as it committed four fouls. Tar Heel leading scorer Tega Ikoba drew the Orange’s first foul of the day not even three minutes into the match. Luke Biasi charged at the streaking Ikoba. Biasi was successful at knocking the ball away from Ikoba but the referee was quick to blow the whistle and issue a foul to the midfielder. Curti committed his first of three fouls of the night two minutes later, ending any momentum for SU. 

For the next 19 minutes, SU committed only three fouls, beginning to control possession in the midfield. But in the 30th minute of play, Syracuse defender Buster Sjoberg was issued two fouls in less than 60 seconds. While the first foul didn’t do any damage, the second one almost proved costly. Sjoberg tackled Ikoba’s left leg, giving the Tar Heels a free-kick. Santiago Herrera took the shot for UNC and his dipping one-bounce attempt just went slightly right of the net. The Orange had 11 fouls in the first half, but a lack of attack from either side kept the match scoreless at halftime.

Syracuse dominated the second half, outshooting North Carolina 6-1. But the fouls continued to pile up, and SU committed 14 in the final 45 minutes. The second half also saw the Orange’s first two yellow cards of the match. 

Midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski drew SU’s first yellow card nine minutes into the second half. Kocevski leapt for a ball that eventually bounced under him while he was still in the air. UNC’s Tim Schels rushed to touch the ball at the center circle. Kocevski tried to catch up with him, eventually grabbing Schels’ shirt, resulting in a card and protests from the SU midfielder. Four minutes later, Noah Singelmann was called for the second yellow card.

But as Syracuse started to dominate the rest of the half, it only committed five more fouls. Even though the Orange had tied the record for most fouls in a match all season, it looked like the Tar Heels were going to ultimately commit the match’s most costly foul. 

Not even a minute into overtime, UNC defender Riley Thomas tripped up Deandre Kerr, who was trying to run for a Sjoberg pass. This was Thomas’ second yellow card of the match and was consequently given a red card. Thomas stormed off the pitch in anger and the Orange were on the man advantage.

Despite having an extra player on the pitch, Syracuse had more fouls than shots for the rest of the first overtime period. 

But what ended the man advantage and momentum for the Orange was two costly yellow cards by senior Hilli Goldhar. Goldhar was a little left and outside of the UNC box then got past one Tar Heel defender while Antonio Lopez applied pressure on him. As the two players collided, Goldhar seemingly tripped Lopez, who then tripped Goldhar. The Orange midfielder was looking for a call but instead was issued his first yellow card of overtime.

In the second overtime, it took Goldhar two minutes for him to get his second yellow card. Jimenez received a pass and looked to make a stride to start another attack for the Tar Heels. Goldhar, who initially didn’t go for the pass, charged at Jimenez and went in for a sliding tackle. Jimenez fell to the ground and Goldhar was called for his second yellow card. 

Like Thomas before him, Goldhar was subsequently given a red card, ending Syracuse’s player advantage. Curti was called for the Orange’s fourth and final yellow card three minutes later, giving Garvanian the penalty kick which ended the match and potentially SU’s season.

Published on November 3, 2021 at 10:36 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com