Syracuse exits NCAA Tournament in 1st round with 2-0 loss to Hofstra
Syracuse players fell to the ground, dejected after seeing their season end Thursday night with a 2-0 loss to Hofstra in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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Ian McIntyre paused for a moment to find the right words.
He sat alone at his postgame press conference in the Ensley Athletic Center following Syracuse’s first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with Hofstra. If the Orange won, he’d be flanked by players on either side. But on this frigid November night, no one accompanied him.
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” blared from the other side of the building, where Hofstra celebrated its NCAA Tournament first-round win. McIntyre blankly looked into the distance for several seconds. He joked he might start singing along.
In reality, though, he was disappointed. It’s a feeling McIntyre’s experienced far too many times in his 16-year tenure as SU’s head coach. Every season seems to end on a sour note if you aren’t winning the national championship, he said. He’s felt the high once before, but the lows have been aplenty.
The same could be said about his Syracuse squad in 2025. The Orange got familiar with defeat early in the campaign, only to turn a 2-4-2 start into a sixth-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference and their most conference victories since 2022.
SU was undoubtedly streaky, though. Syracuse lost four games in a row in September, then won four in a row, then lost two in a row before closing the regular season with a win and a draw against ranked opponents. They followed that up with two more victories in the ACC Tournament.
But just when SU seemed to be heating up, another streak of bad form bit the Orange. It turned a promising postseason run into another nosedive in Syracuse’s rollercoaster season.
Fresh off a crushing loss to SMU in the ACC Tournament Semifinal, the Orange (9-8-3, 4-3-1 ACC) fell to Hofstra (13-5-0, 7-1-0 Colonial Athletic) 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night. Syracuse never recovered after conceding two first-half goals. It took SU until the 82nd minute to tally a shot on target, and it was held scoreless for the first time since Sept. 19 at Duke.
A few seconds after sitting down, McIntyre finally interrupted the music.
“I’m very proud of this group,” he said. “We left it all on the field tonight, but unfortunately, we weren’t quite good enough to continue our season.”
“I think Hofstra deserved this, but it wasn’t much of a game,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes goals change matches, decisions can change matches.”
On Thursday, both did.
Syracuse dominated possession for the opening 15 minutes. A Tim Brdaric header nearly found the back of the net in the opening minute, but missed high.
Then, 20 minutes in, Hofstra turned the tide. Daniel Burko cushioned a pass off his chest, turned and chipped a ball over the top of Syracuse’s defense. It fell into the path of Laurie Goddard, who pressured Garrett Holman into the 18-yard box.
Holman did well to poke the ball off Goddard’s feet, but it jetted toward the right side of the box. Goddard chased after it while Tomas Hut came out of goal. Hut extended, trying to get a touch on the ball. Instead, he took down Goddard, and Hofstra was awarded a penalty after a brief review. Goddard slotted it down the middle to open the scoring.
Six minutes later, Goddard threatened SU in the box again. He received a pass from Owen Barnett and fired a shot right at Hut. The rebound spilled into the six-yard box, and Burko pounced on it to double the Pride’s lead.
Hofstra attacker Daniel Burko celebrates after scoring the Pride’s second goal. After transferring from Syracuse to Hofstra, Burko helped sink SU’s NCAA Tournament hopes. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
“We gave up a couple of soft goals tonight,” McIntyre said. “Some of that’s credit to (Hofstra), they were a real handful, physical, effective, they know how they fight.”
Syracuse didn’t win a game this season when it conceded first. The Orange faced an uphill battle in the second half. McIntyre preached to his team that they could not concede a third, but, more importantly, needed to adjust and find an early goal.
There were sparks, but SU couldn’t break through. It didn’t tally a shot on target until Bryson Rodriguez had his header saved at the near post with eight minutes to play.
The Orange rotated on numerous attacking options, even resorting to putting Brdaric at striker in the final ten minutes to provide an aerial threat. All three of Syracuse’s shots on target were headers, but none seriously challenged Sean Bohan in goal.
“We threw the kitchen sink out there,” McIntyre said. “Credit to Hofstra, because they weathered that storm.”
SU posed no real threat in the second half. While the Orange outshot the Pride 13-9 in the frame, Hofstra comfortably sat back defensively and created chances in transition. It ultimately led to a clean sheet, the first by an SU opponent in two months.
For a team that had done so much to forget about its early-season struggles, Syracuse’s final game of the season felt like a tale from September. It just couldn’t find the back of the net.
Just over a week ago, the Orange were poised to contend for a conference title, and perhaps make a run in the national tournament. Instead, the inconsistencies that defined Syracuse’s 2025 season came back to bite it at the worst possible time.
So, when McIntyre took a seat postgame, he let “Take Me Home, Country Roads” spill into the room. It was a fitting soundtrack for a year defined by detours and turns.
He maintained that Syracuse gave it everything it had. But, even after 15 seasons of sad endings, it still hurts. It always will.
“In order to have a chance, you’ve got to go all in,” McIntyre said. “That means you can end up getting your heart broken.”
