Syracuse men’s soccer beats No. 24 UConn for 1st win of 2026
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Ian McIntyre echoed one thing about nonconference matches. It’s a test for what’s to come.
College soccer’s structure inherently puts more emphasis on conference than nonconference matches. But games against a team like UConn, which reached the Sweet 16 in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and beat SU in its season opener last year, can teach you a lot about your squad.
It could be good or bad — even both. Still, it remains the only time you can undisputedly answer the questions about your team. And the lingering question surrounding McIntyre’s side was whether Syracuse’s forwards could add more attacking potency.
Over the past two seasons, goals and chances created have been spread across the pitch. However, if the Orange were to improve on 2025, their forwards needed to create and score the bulk of chances. On a wet Thursday afternoon in Storrs, Connecticut, which was conducive to a scrappy encounter, striker Jordan Grey scored his first Syracuse goal in the first half and set up defender Gabriel Oksanen for his first in the second half to lead SU (1-0-0, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference ) past No. 24 UConn (0-1-0, 0-0-0 Big East) 2-1 to start the 2026 campaign.
Amid all the changes in Syracuse’s first XI from last year, notably Kyle Jansen getting his first minutes in goal after Tomas Hut’s incredible 2025 season, Syracuse kept playing through Sachiel Ming.
Ming, a junior winger from Southampton, Bermuda, was playing his 24th match for SU. McIntyre has tried to leverage Ming’s pace and directness with the ball for years. Yet, UConn did well to limit him to scraps and almost moments in the opening exchanges. Then, Grey won a penalty. Although referee Victor Borges quickly and rightfully overturned it after the contact on Grey from defender Alex Tupay was minimal at best, the Huskies briefly lost concentration.
Minutes after the restart, Nathan Scott played a beautifully weighted through ball to Ming, who drew the attention of three Huskie defenders. Grey, as a result, had acres of space inside the 18-yard-box after Ming drove the ball into him. The 6-foot-6 University of Toronto transfer completed the great move by slotting it between goalkeeper Kyle Durham’s legs in the 28th minute.
“Quality cross and a good finish,” McIntyre told UCONN+.
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One of the unexpected omissions Thursday was Chimere Omeze. The junior outside back started all 19 matches for McIntyre last year, mainly because his blistering pace out wide made him a nuisance for opposing attackers and defenders.
Instead, McIntyre opted for Oksanen, a Finnish right back who has played for the academies of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake and Philadelphia Union and the first team for Finnish club SJK Seinäjoki. From the first minute of his collegiate career, it was clear he also intended to be a nuisance going forward.
Oksanen was easily the most advanced of the back four while he was on the pitch, which paid dividends when Kelvin Da Costa robbed the ball off Preston Alessio in the 71st minute. UConn had plenty of possession through the first 25 minutes of the second half but created very few goalmouth chances.
As UConn kept pushing men forward, gaps started opening behind them. The ball Da Costa won eventually fell to Grey in a two-on-one situation. Oksanen sprinted from his box to the other, received the ball from Grey, cut in onto his left foot and slotted it past Durham for a 2-0 lead.
At that point, you’d say the test was done. Everything was good.
Not quite yet.
UConn’s Elijah Langford made it uncomfortable for Syracuse after scoring a wonderful free kick in the 85th minute. Jansen’s clean sheet on his debut was gone. With the last chance of the game, Durham’s header off a corner hit the post.
Suddenly, it appeared McIntyre’s side was lucky to escape with a win. But throughout the match, Syracuse was the better team. A late lapse in concentration in a nonconference match, after two excellent goals, definitely gives SU much to learn to prepare for what’s to come, though.
