SU’s offense stumbles again in home defeat to Duquesne
Syracuse pelted Duquesne with 17 shots on Friday, yet none of them found the net, leading to its second loss of the year. Jonathan Theodore | Contributing Photographer
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Throughout Ian McIntyre’s 16-year tenure as Syracuse’s head coach, the majority of his teams have headlined a feature goal-scorer.
It started with Emil Ekblom’s dominant 2013 and 2014 seasons. Then Ben Polk bagged 12 goals in 2015. Tajon Buchanan, now a Villareal star, snagged eight goals in 2018. Ryan Raposo buried 15 in 2019. Nathan Opoku’s and Levonte Johnson’s 11-goal campaigns powered Syracuse’s title-winning season.
But there’s a noticeable drop off post-2022. The Orange haven’t had a scorer tally more than six goals in a season since. The quest for SU’s next star scorer has taken time. And with it, so has Syracuse’s offense. The Orange had scored just three goals in their opening four games of 2025 entering the weekend.
Those struggles continued Friday night, as Syracuse (2-2-1, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast) lost to Duquesne (3-0-1, 0-0-0 Atlantic 10) 1-0. The Orange outshot the Dukes 17-4, including nine shots on target, but failed to find the back of the net. SU’s three goals are the fewest it’s scored in its opening five games since 2011.
“We just didn’t create enough and take our opportunities,” McIntyre said postgame. “I thought we had enough chances to win this game.”
Indeed, the chances are coming for SU. The ball just isn’t finding the back of the net. It’s been a common theme throughout the Orange’s opening five contests.
The Orange didn’t dominate as intensely Friday as it had with its 1-0 win over Yale on Monday, outshooting the Bulldogs 28-1. But the chances on Friday were still aplenty. SU had 10 shots in the first half, six of which were on target.
The best looks of the period came around the 15-minute mark. Tim Noeding lofted a cross into the box for Chimere Omeze, but the sophomore defender couldn’t nod the ball on target from 10 yards out. Soon after, Syracuse’s high press won the Orange the ball going forward. Carlos Zambrano ripped a left-footed try from outside the box that Diego Chavez saved.
Syracuse found success down the left wing with Sachiel Ming, who was a handful for Duquense’s defenders. Ming, Zambrano and Bright Nutornutsi were involved in encouraging combination plays with SU’s midfield to set up decent chances. But the Orange had nothing to show for it come the end of the first half.
“Down that left hand side, I thought Sachiel caused problems,” McIntyre said. “We just need that final pass to be a little bit better.”
Ming, Nutornutsi and Zambrano spent the end of the first half and the start of the second on the bench while Darko and Michael Acquah led SU’s search for a breakthrough. Acquah forced Chavez into three saves, but the Dukes wouldn’t break.
On the other end, they scored on their only real opportunity of the night. Garrett Holman’s back pass was intercepted by Hákon Dagur Matthíasson and placed past a diving Tomas Hut. Being down a goal forced SU to push forward even harder, but they still couldn’t respond.
“It’s our philosophy, get the ball out wide, get in early crosses and get runners in the box,” SU midfielder Giona Leibold said. “Right now, we haven’t executed, but we’re going to work on it, and eventually, it comes to one ball going in. We know more is going to come.”
Syracuse had six shots in the final 20 minutes, two of which went on goal. SU’s best look was an attacking sequence that saw three shots in 13 seconds. Quinten Christey forced Chavez into a save, then Nathan Scott had his shot blocked before Ming put his effort over the bar.
The chances were there, but the Orange came up empty and were shut out for the second time in 2025.
SU has outshot its opponent in every game but one this year. In both of its losses, it had over nine more shots than the opponent. Syracuse’s offensive woes aren’t due to few opportunities.
The issue isn’t a lack of talent up top, either. The Orange have an electrifying winger in Ming, a proven D-I scorer in Nutornutsi, a talented No. 10 in Zambrano and options off the bench like Landon Darko and Acquah.
The attacking pieces are there. The end product isn’t.
But McIntyre and the Orange aren’t quick to worry. For an attack that’s heavily relying on newcomers, it’s going to take some time to settle into the systems.
”We know we’re getting the shots off, we put up 17 shots,” SU defender Ernest Mensah Jr. said. “We know one of them is gonna go in eventually.”
Time will tell how long it’ll take for the shots to start hitting the net. But until then, the Orange will continue the search for the program’s next bagsman. With ACC play just a week away, Syracuse will need to find it sooner rather than later.
