For the second-straight road game Syracuse led a ranked opponent and for the second-straight game SU blew its lead and left a conference matchup with a draw. No. 24 Syracuse (7-4-3, 1-3-2 Atlantic Coast) tied with No. 21 North Carolina State (8-4-3, 2-3-2) on Saturday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“I thought our guys were terrific, SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “I thought we did enough to get three points tonight. We didn’t take that chance to score that second goal tonight and we were punished later on.”

Syracuse outshot NC State, 19 to 12, and led for the majority of the match. But a late goal by Brad Sweeney equalized the game with 24 seconds left. The strike came off a free kick, adding to SU’s inability to defend set-pieces in critical moments. Earlier this season, SU lost to Notre Dame on Sept. 7 after conceding three set-piece scores.

Other than Sweeney’s goal, the Orange utilized physicality on the road. It recorded 19 fouls with Hugo Delhommelle earning SU’s lone yellow card.

Sondre Norheim provided SU’s offense when he headed a ball off a Delhommelle corner kick in the fifth minute. The sophomore defender scored his third goal in his last two matchups, bringing his point total to eight. Delhommelle tallied his fourth assist of the season.

“(Norheim’s) scored a couple of very important goals,” McIntyre said. “This was a good one. To score on restarts you need a good service and that’s what we got from (Delhommelle).”

SU outshot the Wolfpack eight to one in the opening half, but couldn’t create the separation it’s banked on in past games. Syracuse was on a five-game streak of scoring multiple goals which was capped off with a seven-goal outburst against St. Bonaventure on Oct. 16. Yet, NC State’s defense, which entered the contest allowing less than a goal a game, stymied the Orange forwards.

The squads traded chances in the second half and neither team found twine before Sweeney executed on a free kick from 19-yards away.

“It would’ve been very easy for our guys to feel sorry for ourselves and let that carry over into overtime,” McIntyre said. “I thought our guys bounced back.”

Both goalies were called upon in overtime. NC State’s Leon Krapf recorded two of his six saves in the extra periods and Hendrik Hilpert stopped a shot by AJ Seals for his fifth and final save of the night.

Syracuse senior Jan Breitenmoser had a chance to win the match with two seconds left but his strike sailed high, confirming the draw.

The Orange’s unbeaten streak lengthened to six games with the decision. SU travels to Clemson (5-7-1, 0-6-0) on Tuesday, Oct. 23, in a makeup game that was rescheduled due to Hurricane Florence.

Published on October 20, 2018 at 10:22 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez