Syracuse erupts for 3 2nd-half goals in 3-0 bounceback victory over Colgate
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HAMILTON, N.Y. — Pedro Gulli didn’t seem to process what he witnessed immediately. After spotting Chimere Omeze’s shot deflect off the crossbar into the goal’s top right corner, Gulli dropped to his knees, hands clasped behind his head, mouth agape.
Just seconds prior, the corner kick was headed past the endline. An overhead kick from Ivan Irinimbabazi kept the play alive and reached Omeze at the edge of the box.
So give Gulli a second to collect himself before joining in on the celebration at the corner flags. He witnessed something extraordinary.
“When you can’t break down a team, sometimes you need a little bit of magic,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “We had that with Chimere.”
Omeze’s goal opened the scoring in Syracuse’s (5-3-0, 0-2-0 Atlantic Coast) 3-0 win over Colgate (1-5-2, 0-1-0 Patriot League) Tuesday. SU’s offense started slow, only putting one shot on target by halftime to the Raiders’ three. The Orange’s forwards pressed higher in the second half, and along with Omeze’s strike, they turned the tide.
Syracuse finished with 15 shots to Colgate’s nine. The Orange put nine chances on goal, while the Raiders logged four — just one in the second half.
“(Omeze) changed the game,” McIntyre said. “And we had those moments today. Guys played good minutes.”
The Orange began the game in a 3-4-3, while Colgate sported a back five. The Raiders’ wingbacks crowded the midfield when they had possession. Pablo Patrick-Galvez got the starting nod, marking the first time this season SU’s starting backline featured someone other than Irinimbabazi, Garrett Holman and Buster Honeywood.
Colgate had the first real chance 11 minutes in. Blake Pipkin’s header across the face of goal found Alex St. John, but Patrick-Galvez stifled the chance before anything materialized. Three minutes later, Pipkin had another.
Receiving the ball on the left end of SU’s box, he laid it off to Raider defender Connor Cates, whose low shot was wrapped up by Juan Martinez-Bastidas.
The Orange found their first shot on target 16 minutes in. Sachiel Ming delivered a cross from the left flank to Omeze on the back post. His header forced Colgate goalkeeper Gavin Vichengrad to spill the ball back from his knees, but Omeze’s rebound went over the crossbar.
Chimere Omeze dribbles past a Colgate defender in Syracuse’s 3-0 win over the Raiders Tuesday. Omeze scored the first goal of the match, energizing the Orange for their shutout victory. Cole Christopher | Staff Photographer
Colgate’s best chance came with 13 minutes left in the first half. Spencer Osborne drew Irinimbabazi into the midfield away from the rest of SU’s backline. Osborne weaved a through ball in the gap, leaving CU’s Cole Ramey one-on-one with Martinez-Bastidas.
Only the goalie’s outstretched leg kept the score level.
Subbing in Holman and Gabriel Oksanen in the 33rd and 36th minutes, respectively, added stability, but the Raiders kept pushing. Patrick O’Donohue forced another save from Martinez-Bastidas, while SU attackers Badr Laghjibi and Landon Darko didn’t shoot on target before halftime.
Ming, Omeze and Irinimbabazi all pinged the box with crosses, but nothing materialized.
“I think this was my 35th, 36th year coming to Hamilton, New York, and you always get the best out of Colgate,” McIntyre said. “It’s a very well-run program, terrific coach, good players and we really had to dig deep today.”
So Syracuse restructured, Jordan Grey and Gulli pressed higher, and results were immediate. Two minutes in, Gulli backheeled the ball around Colgate’s Otto Bourne, putting Grey through on the left end of the goal.
Grey unleashed a rocket at the near post that forced Vichengrad into a quick save, punching the ball over the bar. The play led to the corner from which Omeze’s worldie was scored. He collected the ball at the edge of the box and fired it into the top right corner off the crossbar.
It opened the floodgates.
In the 63rd minute, 15 minutes after his goal, Omeze won a penalty after getting tripped in the box by Cates. Although Nathan Scott couldn’t convert, Syracuse pushed on. A Kristjan Fortier throughball put Ming on goal, but Vinchengrad reached and cleared it before Ming got a shot off. Moments later, Vinchengrad cleared a Gulli header off the goal line.
Syracuse scored its second goal in the 77th minute. After weaving past two Colgate defenders, Dakota Jonke was tripped entering the box. With his free kick positioned about two yards beyond the penalty arc, Jonke placed a curler into the right side of the net that left Vinchengrad looking.
“Really putting up a big shift for us, and it was good,” McIntyre said. “Their goalkeeper pulled off a couple of important saves for them. But until that third one went in, you kind of felt like we hadn’t put this game completely away.”
It’s hard to argue with McIntyre. Colgate had two goals disallowed in the final 15 minutes. The first required a video review, while the second was blown offside as Julian Di Lucia put the ball past Martinez-Bastidas.
Thankfully for McIntyre, Kelvin Da Costa, who reentered in the 75th minute after starting the game, had an idea. As the clock neared full time, he stole the ball in the midfield as Colgate’s center backs pushed up.
One touch got Da Costa past the defensive line and into the box. He capped the win by placing a shot delicately past Vinchengrad’s left side, where Omeze and Jonke had capitalized before.
