After smothering Maryland’s offense for 55 minutes, Syracuse’s defense left a gaping hole in the middle of its box.

Terrapin forward Sunny June hit a pass into the open space and Dan Metzger ran in and one-timed a shot. A helpless Alex Bono leapt to his left but Metzger perfectly placed the ball in the top-left corner of the net.

“It was a goal worthy of winning a game,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said, “it’s just a shame it was scored by (Maryland).”

Bono quickly got to his feet and encouraged his teammates while clapping his hands. But 35 minutes later the final whistle sounded and Metzger’s goal was the only dent in the box score.

Syracuse (9-6-1, 2-6-1 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t find the net in a 1-0 loss to No. 12 Maryland (8-3-5, 5-1-3) at SU Soccer Stadium on Saturday night in front of 677 fans. The Terrapins and Orange each tallied at least seven shots, but Syracuse couldn’t get on the scoreboard against a stingy Maryland defense.

But even though the Orange fell short, McIntyre was pleased with his team’s effort.

“I don’t want to get too carried away because we lost the game, but that was one of the best performances that I’ve had as a coach here at Syracuse,” McIntyre said. “We just lost 1-0 at home to Maryland and I’m being asked if I’m frustrated, I think that’s a good sign.”

For much of the game, two seemingly even teams fought for possession in the midfield. Scoring opportunities surfaced sparingly for both sides, as both Bono and Maryland goalkeeper Zack Steffen finished with a lone save each.

The Orange varied its usual formation to gain an offensive edge. McIntyre started five defenders, which allowed outside backs Jordan Murrell and Oyvind Alseth to push forward to try and jumpstart the Orange attack from the wings.

While both Murrell and Alseth gave the Orange attack a small number of chances, the shift in tactics didn’t yield any tangible results.

“They had more possession of the ball today, I thought,” sophomore midfielder Stefanos Stamoulacatos said, “but the ball just didn’t go in the net and next time we got to push a little more.”

Freshman forward Chris Nanco had the two best chances to put SU on the board. Less than a minute into the second half, Murrell slid a pass between two Maryland defenders, which gave Nanco a one-on-one with Steffen. After Nanco slipped past Steffen, he overran the ball in front of an open net, and it was cleared by the Terrapin defense a moment later.

Then with less than six minutes left in the game, Nanco struck a shot that seemed destined for the back of the net. But Steffen’s only save of the night — an acrobatic dive to his left — was the finishing touch on his shutout.

“I thought I could have hit it a little harder, I tried to hit a little curl in top shelf,” Nanco said. “But after I (shot) it I realized I made the wrong choice.”

For the final five minutes the crowd — which vehemently stomped on the bleachers throughout the match — was silent and McIntyre’s voice was the only sound in the stadium.

After the game, he said he was happier with SU’s play than he was after most of the games this season. He listed prior ACC losses to then-No. 4 Notre Dame and Virginia, a recent tie to Pittsburgh and even a win against Duke on Sept. 20 as matches in which the Orange performed worse.

Currently, Syracuse is two points short of a spot in the ACC tournament and will have two more chances against Clemson and Wake Forest to sneak into the postseason.

The transition into the ACC hasn’t been picturesque, but the Orange can still turn its shaky conference showing into a mild success.

“We’re getting up there, we’re getting up there slowly,” Stamoulacatos said, “and I think we are going to do big things.”

Published on October 26, 2013 at 10:42 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse