Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Syracuse entered its NCAA Tournament First-Round battle with Hofstra with a clear game plan. The Pride’s offense was led by two players — senior forwards Laurie Goddard and Daniel Burko. Both had 11 goals. No one else on the team had more than one.

The stakes were clear. If the Orange limited the duo, Hofstra would have a tough time scoring. Put the ball in the hands of the Pride’s other weapons, and even with limited offensive opportunities, SU could sneak out a win.

But Syracuse fell far short of that. And its season ended as a result. The Orange (9-8-3, 4-3-1 Atlantic Coast) lost 2-0 to Hofstra (13-5-0, 7-1-0 Coastal Athletic) Thursday, backed by first-half goals from Goddard and Burko. The duo finished with eight of the Pride’s 13 shots, single-handedly propelling them to the NCAA Tournament Second Round and sending Syracuse packing.

SU’s roller-coaster season, which saw it dip two games under .500 and then surge two over, had finally reached the end. And it came at the hands of Hofstra’s stars.

“That’s credit to them. They were physical, effective,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said postgame. “They know how they play. They make no apologies to that. It’s getting balls in the box. It’s creating restarts. We had to be a little bit smarter in moments.”

Entering the contest, the Orange had done well handling top strikers. In their two matchups with NC State at the end of the regular season and in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals, SU held ACC Offensive Player of the Year Donavan Phillip (17 goals) scoreless. The ACC’s second-leading scorer, SMU’s Stephan Soghomonian, was also quieted in Syracuse’s 2-0 upset over the then-No. 25 Mustangs on Oct. 11.

But Burko and Goddard proved too much to handle.

Laurie Goddard (27) and Daniel Burko (21), among their teammates, celebrate Goddard’s first-half goal in SU’s loss to Hofstra Thursday. Goddard and Burko, the Pride’s top two scorers, both scored against the Orange. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor

Burko’s success wasn’t anything new for SU, though. After starting his career at Waldorf and Lincoln Memorial, Burko spent his junior year at Syracuse in 2024. He started eight of his 16 matches and scored three goals, ranking second on the team.

However, Burko transferred for the third time to Hofstra in the offseason. He’s since turned in the best campaign of his career.

Postgame, he mentioned his time at Syracuse helped him and the Pride prepare for Thursday’s match. He said he knew SU would bring intensity, something Hofstra would need to quell. And it did, allowing only two of the Orange’s 18 shots to be on target.

“I knew what they’re gonna bring, what we needed to do to match up with them,” Burko said. “Bring intensity, bring experience. So (we) just have to match the level of intensity.”

Syracuse started on the right foot to begin the game, though. In the fourth minute, as Burko streaked down the right side guarded closely by SU defender Garrett Holman, he pinged a cross toward the box. Orange midfielder Kelvin Da Costa was there to boot it away.

However, on Hofstra’s next true opportunity, things went south.

In the 18th minute, Burko flicked a pass forward for Goddard, who split SU defenders Tim Brdaric and Holman. As the ball trickled to the right of the net, Goddard and Syracuse goalie Tomas Hut both charged for the ball. Hut got there first but whiffed and nicked Goddard instead.

It resulted in a penalty, which Goddard swiftly placed past a lunging Hut to make it 1-0 for his 12th goal of the season.

The Pride weren’t done. Just seven minutes later, Goddard was left all alone on the left edge of the box, exploiting a hole in Syracuse’s defense. Hut stonewalled his blistering shot. But the rebound spun right in front of the net, which Burko easily tapped in.

Just like that, Goddard and Burko had changed the game, just as they’d done for Hofstra all season.

“On the attack, these two guys were unreal,” Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall said postgame, motioning to Goddard and Burko beside him. “They’re our main focus, and we did well getting the ball to them.”

It was something Syracuse could’ve avoided. It could’ve keyed in on the duo and forced Hofstra to make plays elsewhere. In that case, it could’ve relied on its typically airtight backline, which entered the game with nine shutouts on the year. Or lean on Hut, who McIntyre called SU’s “MVP” this season after an All-ACC Third Team selection and ACC-leading 75 saves.

But that was easier said than done — Goddard and Burko simply got the better of the Orange. After their scores, Hofstra didn’t need to do much in the second half, either. The two continued creating opportunities, which SU stopped. But with the Orange’s offensive shortcomings resurfacing, it didn’t matter.

Now, Syracuse’s season is over for good. That was evident when “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver could be heard from Hofstra’s locker room as McIntyre spoke postgame. And that jubilation was a result of its top two strikers.

“Those guys, they’re a handful,” McIntyre said. “Their two up front were the difference in the match today.”

Published on November 20, 2025 at 10:44 pm
Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @Noahnuss99