Syracuse defeats Cal 2-0, claims 1st ACC win of 2025
Buoyed by second-half goals from Chimere Omeze and Garrett Holman, Syracuse downed Cal 2-0 for its first ACC win. Avery Magee | Assistant Photo Editor
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Syracuse marched into Berkeley with its morale at an all-time high.
In their previous matchup against Colgate, the Orange delivered their first complete performance of the season. On a historic night for the team, Carlos Zambrano stole the show with a hat trick that propelled head coach Ian McIntyre to his program-record 142nd win. Though the team still sat last in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a losing record, you would’ve never guessed it.
On Saturday night, SU hoped to keep building on that momentum in its first-ever meeting against a Cal squad that had yet to win in front of its home crowd.
Syracuse (4-4-2, 1-2-0 ACC) finally broke through for its first conference win in nearly a year Saturday, downing California (4-4-2, 1-2-1 ACC) 2-0. Following a back-and-forth first half, the Orange took control of the contest in the second-half, with goals from Garrett Holman and Chimere Omeze. With seven saves, goalkeeper Tomas Hut also notched his fifth clean sheet of the campaign.
SU has made a habit of playing teams close this season. Behind strong backline play, its final scores to open the season fell into one of three categories: a 1-0 loss, a 1-0 win or a 1-1 tie. The Orange allowed just three goals in their first six games of the season.
Then came ACC play. Faced with back-to-back ranked opponents in then-No. 8 Stanford and then-No. 19 Duke to start the slate, goals suddenly became more frequent. Syracuse surrendered five across those in-conference matchups.
In the first half against the Golden Bears, it looked as though that in-conference trend would continue, and its backline would be tested often.
Despite playing an aggressive 4-5-1 formation, Syracuse’s attack didn’t find its footing in the game’s opening minutes. Even with Zambrano — now SU’s leading scorer — back in the starting lineup for the first time since Sept. 5, the unit started off slow.
Tim Noeding threatened early for SU with a fifth-minute screamer, but Golden Bears goalkeeper Marco Brougher silenced the chance — and with it, Syracuse’s attack. The Orange’s next shot wouldn’t come until the 31st minute. Cal, on the other hand, got busy creating chances of its own.
In the seventh minute, Luka Lukic got the Golden Bears started with back-to-back shots on target mere seconds apart. Right on cue, Hut came through to punch away both chances.
Following a reversed foul call on Cal, its attack tested Hut again moments later on a cross attempt from the right side of the final third. Yet again, the veteran keeper came up big.
As Syracuse fell into foul trouble early on for the second straight game, the Golden Bears continued to pepper SU’s backline, outshooting the Orange 6-1 through the first 30 minutes. Tending to outshoot their opponents early this season, the Orange found themselves in unfamiliar territory against Cal.
In an effort to spark his offense, McIntyre made four key changes midway through the first frame, bringing in Michael Acquah, Kristjan Fortier, Sachiel Ming and Bryson Rodriguez. It was Rodriguez’s first career appearance for SU.
That slight personnel change did the trick. Over the first half’s final 15 minutes, the Orange rattled off five unanswered shots, two of which came on goal off Landon Darko’s leg. The pressure helped create SU’s first corner opportunity of the game in the 44th minute, but it came up empty.
Out of the break, Syracuse continued to push the envelope.
Thanks to relentless pressure from its young midfield corps of Darko, Fortier and Rodriguez, the Orange managed to hold the Golden Bears in their own third for minutes on end. As a result, Cal didn’t register a single second-half shot until the 65th minute. By then, Syracuse had already found the back of the net, courtesy of a deflection inside the box by Holman.
With desperation starting to set in, Cal rediscovered its offense. Firing three shots toward Hut and one corner over the next five minutes, it seemed the Golden Bears were just one fortunate bounce away from knotting things back up. Then, Omeze sent them back to square one.
On a throw-in from Gavin Wigg, Omeze doubled SU’s lead with a header from the left side of the box that took a fortunate bounce off Brougher in the 70th minute. Although Syracuse fell victim to eight penalties over the final 20 minutes, its 2-0 edge held until the final whistle, thanks to three missed corners by Cal and one last heroic save by Hut.
Saturday’s victory over Cal wasn’t season-altering by any stretch for SU. But with five goals in its past two games, it’s possible the Orange may be starting to turn the corner amid their turbulent 2025 season.
