Midway through the first half, Notre Dame’s Max Lachowecki pushed Syracuse’s Nick Bibbs after a whistle.

The Syracuse crowd of 1,675 proceeded to boo Lachowecki each time he touched the ball for the remainder of the game.

Through the ups and downs of the Orange’s 4-2 loss to the No. 7 Fighting Irish (14-3-1, 5-2-1 Big East) on Saturday night, the Syracuse (12-6, 5-3) fans were consistently supportive of their team. Despite temperatures sitting in the 30s at the first-ever postseason game held at SU Soccer Stadium, the fan base didn’t waver.

Even with the loss in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, the Orange’s season may not be over as it awaits a possible berth in the NCAA tournament.

But as the Orange enjoys one of its best seasons in a long time, the team’s support system has grown substantially from previous seasons.

“It’s awesome to see how many people really care about the program,” goalkeeper Alex Bono said. “Being a local kid coming to the games last year, never were there that many people here no matter who they were playing.”

The attendance at SU Soccer Stadium exceeded 1,000 fans in seven out of eight home games this year. Just two games last year reached that plateau. The lowest attendance of this season — 826 against Colgate on Sept. 3 — would have been third highest a year ago.

The game on Saturday night was tightly contested by both teams, setting the atmosphere that comes with a playoff game. The spectators added to the intensity with their constant noise and cheers.

As Syracuse built up a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute, excitement carried throughout the bleachers as the crowd hoped to witness the Orange’s first home postseason victory. A group of fans grew behind Notre Dame’s goal and taunted goalkeeper Patrick Wall after he botched a save that rolled into the net for the Orange’s second goal.

In the 63rd minute, the Fighting Irish began its comeback and scored two goals within a span of 19 seconds. The crowd was shocked and was suddenly much less audible.

But the fans weren’t quiet for long. Even as Syracuse relented four unanswered goals in the second half, the SU faithful still produced forceful chants of “let’s go Orange” and encouraged the defense to keep pressuring the Fighting Irish.

“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the result they wanted,” said defender Jordan Murrell, visibly upset with the outcome. “And thanks to all of them for coming out in the freezing cold weather. The crowd was firing and we were just trying to push as much as possible to give them a good game.”

Even after the final buzzer sounded and the loss was official, the fans were not quick to leave the bleachers. Many waited until after the Orange came out of its final huddle to applaud the team’s effort for the last time at SU Soccer Stadium this season.

And the Orange was quick to return acknowledgement back to the audience. Bono recognized how much the crowd influences the team’s play and tipped his hat to those who bared the cold weather to support the team.

Head coach Ian McIntyre hopes his team’s season hasn’t come to a close. But he was already looking forward to the next time the Syracuse faithful will fill the stadium to capacity.

“As we continue to evolve and build our program, we want to pack this place,” McIntyre said. “I think our crowd responds to the fact that win, lose or draw, we’ve got an honest group and they give you everything.”

Published on November 4, 2012 at 11:52 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb