Syracuse men’s soccer stuns No. 10 Notre Dame 1-0 for 1st ACC win
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Entering Friday, every imaginable odd seemed stacked against Syracuse.
The Orange hadn’t beaten Notre Dame on the road since 2015. The Fighting Irish were coming off a stunning shutout victory over then-No. 1 Stanford. Blake Kelly made the Cardinal attack look incapable with a career-high 10 saves. Tristan Tropeano entered on a three-game scoring streak.
You get it; Notre Dame, ranked No. 10 nationally, was far and away SU’s top opponent so far. Everything that could’ve gone right for the Fighting Irish recently had.
On Friday, Syracuse had endless opportunities to change that. SU had what felt like dozens of tries to halt a squad that hadn’t experienced heartbreak in seven matches. It wasn’t until the second half that the Orange capitalized. But against a top-10 team like Notre Dame, it’s never too late.
Syracuse (7-3-0, 1-2-0 Atlantic Coast) earned its first ACC victory of the year with a 1-0 win over the No. 10 Fighting Irish (5-2-2, 2-1-0) Friday in South Bend. Ivan Irinimbabazi scored with 18 minutes to go, marking his first career goal and SU’s first tally in ACC play this season.
Though the Orange’s magic seemed to sputter out with a shutout first half, Irinimbabazi played hero just days after Notre Dame was atop the soccer world with a stunner over the top-ranked Cardinal.
The script was bound to flip. Moments before halftime, it seemed the Fighting Irish’s game plan was to simply hold on. It was that lopsided. Syracuse had five shots and three corner kicks. Notre Dame had two shots, four fouls, three offside calls and zero corners.
The Orange knocked on the door all half. But Syracuse and Notre Dame went to the break knotted at zero.
A scoreless tie against a top-10 team is nothing to fret about. SU could be satisfied with that result through 45 minutes. But if you watched the game, it was obvious Syracuse should’ve been ahead.
That first became clear just five minutes into play. Kelly was phenomenal against Stanford, and he was quickly pelted by the Orange.
Chimere Omeze lined up in the 6-yard box among a crowd of white and blue jerseys. Sachiel Ming’s corner kick went long, but Omeze was left unmarked with enough space to rattle off a header on net. It was a good enough shot to traverse between Kelly’s hands but not good enough to get past midfielder Ian Shaul’s 5-foot-8 frame.
The ball rattled around the box before Shaul cleared it, what seemed like, directly on the goal line. It stayed in play for over 30 seconds before officials called for a VAR check. Yet the call was upheld.
The officials headed back to the sideline 15 minutes later when Badr Laghjibi’s shot went off ND defender Jack Ross’ hand in the box. This time, the initial call of penalty kick favored Syracuse, but it didn’t last after officials concluded Ross’ hand was in a natural position.
Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre repeatedly said before Friday that the Orange have relied on a bit of “magic” in recent games. There was Omeze versus Colgate. Gabriel Oksanen against intracity Le Moyne. Laghjibi in a win over Loyola.
Through 45 minutes Friday, the magic disappeared. An SU loss looked inevitable given that Notre Dame’s one-goal wins over then-No. 17 Clemson and Michigan came on late second-half tallies.
The start of the second half told a similar story. Syracuse got shots off. Kelly saved them.
One of the Orange’s best chances came in the 56th minute. Oksanen readied for a throw-in from the left sideline as four Syracuse players straddled the 6-yard box. Oksanen’s throw found Irinimbabazi’s back, then Buster Honeywood. Syracuse’s defender rocketed a shot toward Kelly, but the ND keeper made an outstretched save to keep the score intact.
Kelly was named the ACC’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week this week. He was amid another performance worthy of a nod. Then, SU set up for its sixth corner kick.
Ming took it, crossing the try to Omeze at the back of the box. He didn’t have as much space as before, matched by two Notre Dame defenders as he rose for a header. The ball then found Irinimbabazi.
He took one touch, turned 180 degrees and placed a shot into the top of the net.
While Kelly barked at his defense in disgust, Irinimbabazi, followed by a trail of teammates, drifted toward SU’s sideline. McIntyre slowly came into frame, still sitting on Syracuse’s bench with his thumb up: the ultimate sign of approval.
The roles had reversed. Now the Orange were simply looking to hold on. The Fighting Irish tried one more shot, but it went wide left.
Hours before the final whistle sounded, Syracuse’s grueling slate against No. 10 Notre Dame, then No. 20 Pittsburgh, No. 17 Akron and No. 16 Louisville was set to begin. The odds were — and are — stacked against it in all four matches.
Odds are just numbers, though. SU’s win over the Fighting Irish proved numbers can be wrong.
