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Curt Calov was standing in front of Wake Forest defender Prince Amponsah’s pass and blocked it. The ball rolled back into the Demon Deacons’ penalty box and a footrace began between Calov and Amponsah. Calov had the defender beat, but a second before he could get a touch on the ball, freshman goalkeeper Trace Alphin slid in to grab it.

Alphin, standing at the top left side of his penalty box with the ball, threw it across the field to defender Garrison Tubbs to start a new attack. Tubbs dribbled with the ball all the way to the midfield before he sent it to freshman forward Babacar Niang. The freshman forward moved up the field with speed and ran toward the SU penalty arc. But right before he reached the arc, Niang took a quick step to the right and sent a powerful shot to the middle of the net. The ball went over the fingertips of a jumping Russell Shealy, hit the crossbar and fell into the net, giving Wake Forest a 1-0 lead.

The two freshmen who started and finished that play were both important factors in Syracuse’s (8-7-2, 2-5-1 Atlantic Coast) 2-0 fall to Wake Forest (10-5-1, 4-3-1 ACC) on Friday. Niang had the opening goal that gave the Demon Deacons a lead they would never relinquish, and Alphin made eight saves in the second half. The keeper had the same number of saves in the second half as he did in his previous four matches. Both freshmen played massive roles even though the Orange outshot the Demon Deacons in the second half.

The only game Niang played this season was the Demon Deacons’ opening match against VCU. And for the first 35 minutes of the first half, Niang sat on the sidelines.

It wasn’t a problem in the opening 15 minutes as Wake Forest outshot SU 4-0. This included a shot from forward David Wrona, who fired the ball from the penalty arc. But Shealy was able to make the stop. As the first half progressed, the Orange finally got some chances on offense.

Colin Biros was awarded a free kick just over 11 minutes into the match and sent the kick all the way to the net, only for it to be caught by Alphin. For the next 20 minutes, SU had four shots on goal. However, all of those shots, which came from Calov, Biros, Christian Curti and Amferny Sinclair, were off-target and no problem for the Demon Deacons.

But Wake Forest stole the momentum back when Niang was subbed in with a little under 10 minutes left in the half. It took Niang three minutes to make an impact for the Demon Deacons. Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said Niang’s strike was almost impossible for Shealy to stop. But he acknowledged the issues leading up to the shot.

“In the build-up play, we got caught up in transition and in our steps when we shouldn’t have,” McIntyre said.

Niang’s goal gave Wake Forest a cushion going into halftime. The cushion got bigger for the Demon Deacons after senior Kyle Holcomb got a chip pass from teammate Omar Hernandez. Holcomb then sped past Buster Sjoberg and buried the ball in the net to make the score 2-0. After Holcomb’s goal, however, the Orange started to dominate on the attack. SU outshot Wake Forest 11-4 in the second half. But Alphin’s eight saves kept the Orange scoreless.

“It was a combination of us trying to be more clinical in front of the goal,” McIntyre said. “But sometimes you have to tip your cap to a goalkeeper who makes saves.”

Noah Singelmann started the Syracuse barrage at 26:03 with a curling shot from beyond the box. Alphin leaped up and extended to make his first save of the night. But the best chance for the Orange came on Alphin’s next save.

Deandre Kerr was unable to completely control a Manel Busquets pass. So Kerr was able to get a desperation pass off to Calov with 23 minutes left in the match. Calov got past one Wake Forest defender and had some open space so he could pass back to a now-streaking Kerr. The sophomore forward made a move to his left that made Amponsah slip. Kerr was left all alone with Alphin. He fired a shot with his left foot from the top of the Wake Forest penalty box, but Alphin rushed out of his net, crouched down, and the Kerr’s shot went straight off his face and out of bounds.

Less than five minutes later, Alphin had to stop both Busquets and Calov again. Busquets streaked with the ball into the right side of the box and fired a shot that was swallowed by the keeper. A minute later, Calov, from outside the box, shot the ball that took one bounce into Alphin’s gloves. Hilli Goldhar and Max Kent both took shots on the net as well. But again, Alphin saved both shots.

The frustration for Syracuse, but especially Busquets, became evident. With just over eight minutes left, Sinclair sent a long pass down into the attacking third. Busquets was able to speed past the Wake Forest defense and had no one except Alphin in front of him. Busquets’ shot didn’t even come close to Alphin, as the ball sailed over the net and all the senior could do was look down at the ground. There were so many chances for the Orange in the second half, but Alphin and the Demon Deacons defense stopped them all. McIntyre said that there were good stretches throughout the second half, but also critical mistakes.

“We got punished tonight through a couple of mistakes, and we had plenty of opportunities,” McIntyre said. “We had probably the most opportunities tonight than in any ACC game this season.”

Published on October 29, 2021 at 11:34 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com