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Syracuse entered the Atlantic Coast Conference Semifinals Thursday on a high. It’d won three of its last four games. It was facing an SMU team it’d already beaten. And it had completely revived its season following a rough start.

After dropping to 2-4-2 on the season with a loss to then-No. 19 Duke on Sept. 19, head coach Ian McIntyre said his team was disappointed. He knew beating the Blue Devils would be tough, but it seemed SU was taking another step back following its 2022 national title, stooping even lower than its 7-7-3 2024 campaign.

The Orange had lost to Duquesne and tied New Haven — which now has just five wins on the year — before blowing a late lead to then-No. 8 Stanford.

But between Syracuse’s loss in Durham and Thursday, it’d looked like a different squad. In the final eight games of the regular season, SU went 5-1-2, entering the ACC Tournament as the No. 6 seed. In its two tournament matchups before Thursday, everything fell into place. The Orange defeated No. 11 seed Virginia Tech and upset No. 3 seed NC State to advance to the semifinals for the first time since winning the conference in 2022.

But Syracuse’s (9-7-3, 4-3-1 ACC) momentum stalled in its semifinal matchup with No. 7 seed SMU (10-4-4, 3-2-3 ACC) Thursday in Cary, North Carolina, falling to the Mustangs 5-1 to end its ACC Tournament run. SMU endlessly hounded SU’s backline with 17 shots, handing the Orange their largest loss of the season at the worst possible time.

Now, SU sits in limbo. Its NCAA Tournament resume is strong, but Syracuse’s four-goal embarrassment could play a factor in whether its season is extended another week on Monday.

“In order to have success at this level, you’ve got to go all in,” McIntyre said postgame. “When that happens, if it doesn’t go your way, you risk being heartbroken. And if you’re not, that means you haven’t given anything. We fell short, and as such, we’ve got tears and an emotional locker room.”

SMU defender Ryan Clanton-Pimentel celebrates his goal in the final minute of the first half Thursday. Besides the score, Clanton-Pimentel added two assists, helping the Mustangs hand Syracuse its largest loss of the season. Courtesy of Atlantic Coast Conference, Photograph by Jaylynn Nash

Despite Syracuse’s decimation Thursday, its first matchup with SMU on Oct. 11 — a 2-0 win — exuded confidence. McIntyre called that contest a “coin flip,” while Mustangs head coach Kevin Hudson added the two scores were “bad goals.”

Hudson said postgame Thursday he didn’t have much time to dissect the first contest’s film until three days ago due to tight travel schedules. Still, he said his game plan didn’t change from the then — avoid getting into foot races where SU’s athleticism could shine.

“They try to put the ball in danger spots, and they try to make you face your own goal,” Hudson said of Syracuse. “We didn’t want to give a ton of space behind us because we were worried about their pace.”

Syracuse spent much of the opening half on defense anyway. And unlike the two’s last game, where the Mustangs finished scoreless on 10 shots, SU’s backline was porous.

SMU had plenty of scoring chances early, totaling nine first-half shots. Initially, SU got lucky. The Mustangs were called offside in the second minute, then Stephan Soghomonian sailed a corner out of bounds six minutes later.

In that time, the Orange stifled the Mustangs on corner kicks, not allowing a goal on seven first-half corners. But SMU’s constant pressure was a cause for concern.

On the other end, Syracuse’s offense was nonexistent, a complete 180 from its recent stretch. The Orange rifled nine shots on goal versus VT and seven against NC State, totaling five goals.

But SU couldn’t get anything right Thursday. It didn’t tally a shot for the last 40 minutes of the first half and couldn’t connect passes.

McIntyre said SU simply doesn’t have one dominant goal scorer, like SMU’s Soghomonian (12 goals) or even some of the best teams in the world. It relies on multiple players to chip in. But no one stepped up Thursday.

“We don’t have Erling Haaland. We win games by committee,” McIntyre said. “Tonight, we just didn’t find a way to do that.”

That came back to haunt the Orange. In the 38th minute, SMU played the ball to Jaylinn Mitchell on the left flank. Mitchell, working against Syracuse defender Tim Brdaric, pinged a pass forward to Mukisa Emmanuel in tight space. Emmanuel broke free from Brdaric and fellow defender Garrett Holman and smashed the ball over a helpless Tomas Hut in net.

SMU added another goal seven minutes later when Ryan Clanton-Pimentel took advantage of more lackadaisical SU defense, making it 2-0.

McIntyre said that goal hurt the most. Just like that, Syracuse was down for the first time in the tournament. The Orange’s chances looked grim; they’d yet to snag a comeback win all year.

That didn’t change Thursday. In fact, the Mustangs put the game away immediately after the break.

This time, they finally capitalized on a corner. The ball fell to Charles-Emile Brunet in the 50th minute after SMU’s eighth attempt, with a slew of defenders in front. Via a deflection off Holman’s head, Brunet’s goal put the final touch on the Mustangs’ win.

The Orange’s offense only mustered one penalty goal in the final 40 minutes while SMU added two more scores, knocking SU out of the conference playoffs.

Syracuse arrived in Cary with numerous factors on its side. It had all the momentum it could want. SMU put it out in an instant, sending SU into a potential NCAA Tournament run off its worst defeat yet.

“We picked a bad night to have a bad night,” McIntyre said.

Published on November 14, 2025 at 12:40 am
Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @Noahnuss99