One hundred and ten minutes of soccer were played, but on Saturday night at Dail Soccer Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, neither No. 5 Syracuse nor North Carolina State was able to put a shot by its opposing goalkeeper.

Though No. 5 SU (13-2-1, 4-2-1 Atlantic Coast) played with a man-advantage for 19 minutes of extra-time, none of the seven SU overtime shots beat N.C. State’s (6-5-4, 1-3-3 Atlantic Coast) Alex McCauley.

“I think we’re going to look back and this is going to be a very important point (of the season),” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “As we’re kind of fighting for playoff spots in the ACC tournament, you want to win every game, but to come on the road and to come away with a point.

“I’m very proud of the way the guys kept plugging away.”

Syracuse goalkeeper Alex Bono finished with six saves, including three in the second half and one in each overtime period. The SU keeper had two close-range saves in overtime, avoiding a potential second overtime loss in three games for the Orange.

Though SU didn’t win, Bono recorded his 11th shutout of the season, eclipsing his personal record of 10 in a season and pulling himself into a tie with Chris Whitcomb (1986) on the SU all-time list for shutouts in a season.

“Two quality ACC goalkeepers tonight,” McIntyre said. “There was a lot of buildup and talking about both goalkeepers and I don’t think either of them disappointed.”

SU held a slight edge in possession and scoring chances in the first half. The Orange had two chances called back for offside – one on Emil Ekblom and one on Chris Nanco. Six minutes before halftime, SU midfielder Julian Buescher sent a looping shot from 20-yards out that hit the crossbar.

The Wolfpack had just one scoring chance in regulation, an off-angle shot from eight yards out in the 24th minute that Bono easily corralled.

McIntyre said he believed SU was the more-likely team to “go on and secure the win,” but the Wolfpack keeper came away with seven saves, including three in extra-time.

“It was important we came away with something from this game,” McIntyre said. “We’ll take our point and regroup tomorrow.”

With a scoreless draw, the Orange now finds itself tied with Louisville and Clemson atop of the ACC Atlantic Division. The division champion will be determined this week, with SU holding a head-to-head tie-breaker over Clemson, and Louisville holding the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Orange.

Louisville plays Tuesday night against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville before concluding its regular season on Friday, Oct. 31, at Wake Forest. Clemson plays Tuesday night against South Florida before finishing its season against the Wolfpack on Friday, Oct. 31.

Syracuse hosts Boston College in its finale on Friday.

Published on October 25, 2014 at 11:20 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu