Stellar performances from Alex Halis are becoming the norm for SU soccer.

On Monday night, the freshman forward netted two goals and dished out an assist, leading No. 17 Syracuse (3-1-0) to a 4-1 victory over Manhattan (0-3-0) at SU Soccer Stadium. Halis now leads the team with eight points on three goals and two assists.

“With Alex you never know what to expect,” said SU forward Chris Nanco, who played high school soccer with Halis at Canada’s St. Edmund Campion Secondary School. “He’ll come out one day and play an amazing game and come out the next day and play even better.”

Halis’ finesse touches and signature bursts of speed awakened an SU offense that looked sluggish for a better portion of the first half. The Orange weren’t able to string any passes together in the offensive third, and missed a couple of open passes that may have led to scoring opportunities.

SU head coach Ian McIntyre, and the home crowd, were restless, urging the team to “pick up the tempo” and “push forward.”

Halis answered the call.

SU defender Oyvind Alseth sent a long ball down the right side of the field for Emil Ekblom, who sent a cross into the box. The ball deflected off the back of Manhattan defender Andrew Santos and plopped down just above the penalty area. Halis jumped on the ball and sent it into the net.

Santos dropped to his knees and punched the ground twice. He didn’t regain composure until play had resumed for the next possession.

SU had its best offensive stint in the later portion of the opening frame, and it was Halis who led the charge.

Halis worked passing plays with Ekblom and Nanco and sent them both through balls into the box. Halis’ feed for Ekblom was ruled offside. His feed to Nanco connected, but Nanco was held and pushed by Jaspers defender Sean Towey.

In the 34th minute, though, Halis and Nanco capitalized. Halis found Nanco open on the top left of the box, and Nanco sent a shot into the back of the net. It was the first assist of Halis’ career.

Just three minutes later, Halis had the ball on the center of the top of the box. He slid the ball to the right to Noah Rhynhart, who returned it on a give-and-go. Halis sent a shot from the left side and beat the keeper, which gave SU a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

Just five minutes into the second half, the Halis-Nanco combination proved prolific yet again. Halis found Nanco on the right side of the box, and Nanco buried the shot just as he had done in the first half. The Orange took a 4-0 lead.

Manhattan soon realized that No. 7, Halis, was the player it needed to watch.

In the 32nd minute, Jaspers defender Santos brought Halis to the ground. Halis was down for 15 seconds, clutching his left arm underneath his body. Santos received a yellow card.

A minute later, Halis retaliated on Reese Akers, and received a yellow card himself.

“I got frustrated,” Halis said. “I can’t be doing that. It hurts the team. Just learn from it, I guess, not get frustrated, just play my game, put my head down and keep working hard.”

McIntyre immediately called for a sub, and for his offensive star to come over to talk to him. McIntyre was visibly upset with Halis, and yelled at him for a good 15 seconds.

“He has faith in all of us,” Halis said. “He’s a great coach and I respect him enough to apologize and take what he said and just use it as a positive. I know he’s a bit disappointed, I don’t blame him.”

Halis took the criticism, brushed his long hair with his left hand, and found a seat on the bench next to Juuso Pasanen.

“Alex is an emotional soccer player, that’s what makes him so fun to watch,” McIntyre said. “He took a silly yellow card. He was getting kicked a couple of times and he reacted. You know, we had a conversation. He realizes he won’t do that again.”

Published on September 10, 2013 at 2:03 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu