Federico Agreda threw his arms into the air and sprinted toward Dan Summers to celebrate. The two had just connected to give Syracuse a mark it reached just once all of last year.

 

Agreda closed in on the net and drilled a shot into the net from short distance, off a header from Summers for his first career SU goal. The score broke the Orange out of its offensive malaise, giving the team its first multi-goal game since last October.

‘We knew we had to come to this game ready to win,’ Agreda said. ‘We came off in the first minute just to pressure them. We did an amazing job doing that. Knowing the last game we couldn’t score and we had lost the game, the forwards and the midfielders, we knew they had to score.’

After failing to score in its opening game of the season last week against Colgate, Syracuse’s offense notched two goals in the first half on Thursday en route to a 2-1 win over Canisius in the team’s home opener. The Orange (1-1) controlled the tempo from the start, and held off the Golden Griffins (0-3) for nearly 15 minutes after they scored on a penalty kick late in the second half. The two-goal cushion was all the Orange needed in just the second multiple-goal night in 19 matches under second-year head coach Ian McIntyre.

SU scored its first goal in the 11th minute when Canisius goalkeeper Kareem Gray couldn’t hold onto a save off a corner and defender Skylar Thomas jumped up and headed the ball into the net. After pushing the lead to two goals a few minutes later, though, the Orange offense stopped attacking.

McIntyre said his team needed to press harder for the third goal rather than simply try to prevent Canisius from scoring.

‘If anything, it’s been a while since we’ve been out ahead so we kind of relaxed and allowed them to get back in the game,’ McIntyre said. ‘I think that’s something we’ll learn, that when we smell that we’re on top of a game, smell a little bit of blood in the water, we’ve got to go for that third goal a little bit more.’

To match up with the Golden Griffins’ formation, Syracuse switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2. The change allowed SU to stretch across the field and attack from a wider range. It resulted in 16 total shots, a much better result than the three shots SU took against Colgate.

The Orange had kept Canisius off the board until the 77th minute when the Orange was called for a penalty. Golden Griffins midfielder Jared Ott then knocked the penalty kick into the left side of the net past lunging SU goalie Phil Boerger.

When the official made the penalty call, McIntyre slammed his hands to his side and barked at the referee. In previous games under McIntyre, it may have been enough to spell disaster for the Orange. But the two-goal lead gave Syracuse some room to breathe.

‘I disagreed with the call. It was nothing personal,’ McIntyre said. ‘He’s in a better position than me. There were a couple of others that may have possibly gone our way. … Fortunately, tonight we had enough in the tank to hold on and kill the game off.’

Senior Nick Roydhouse nearly scored the team’s third goal in the 89th minute, but his shot ricocheted off the crossbar and sailed over the goal.

Before that opportunity, SU took a more conservative approach with the lead. And it made the game interesting down the stretch after Canisius cut the lead to one on the penalty kick.

Roydhouse was impressed by the way the SU freshmen on the field managed to keep their composure in an unfamiliar situation, not allowing the Golden Griffins to complete a comeback.

‘It was a new position for us. We haven’t been in the lead in a season game,’ Roydhouse said. ‘It was interesting to see how we react. We panicked a little bit, and we thought as long as we kicked the ball away then they’re not going to score.’

With Syracuse’s poor offensive showing in the season opener, the team’s 2010 struggles on offense looked like they would continue into 2011.

But two early goals on Thursday changed all of that. McIntyre sees this game as the one that could get his team moving in the right direction. If the offense can continue to produce, more wins will follow.

‘Winning becomes a little bit of a habit, and hopefully we can start doing that,’ McIntyre said. ‘We had a poorer start last year, so it was nice to get that first win. And we’ll better because of tonight.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on September 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman