Pedro Gulli’s header earns Syracuse men’s soccer 1-1 draw with No. 10 Pitt
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
It was a hero’s welcome.
A crowd of children gathered at the perimeter boards on SU Soccer Stadium’s north side, all waiting for Pedro Gulli. Once their champion arrives, each child high-fives Gulli as he makes his way down the line. He takes a photo with the last one, and turns back for Round 2.
One flexes at him and he flexes back. Another asks for an autograph; Gulli obliges. The next person wants to do a jersey trade? A gray sweater isn’t exactly a jersey, but no problem. Gulli hands the fan his shirt for a photo.
By the time he’s done soaking in the moment, more children have deciphered his route to Ensley Athletic Center. They want autographs. One asks Gulli to sign his shirt, the other requests his sock. Fourteen minutes after Gulli greeted the first fan, he finally made it to the locker rooms, as Kyle Jansen headed out. But Gulli didn’t mind the holdup.
“I always want to celebrate our fans, whether we win, draw or lose,” Gulli said. “Even when we’re losing, just having them cheer us on, it brings the whole team’s morale up.”
Gulli’s 78th-minute header brought Syracuse (7-3-1, 1-2-1 Atlantic Coast) level in its 1-1 draw with No. 10 Pitt (6-2-2, 2-1-1 ACC) Friday. Despite the Panthers taking an early lead, Logan Oliver’s red card in the 41st gave SU a numbers advantage, and the Orange dominated the ball for the rest of the game. Syracuse outshot Pitt 21-8.
However, Pitt was more precise in the box, logging five shots on target to SU’s three.
“What this doesn’t say is how many of those were blocks; those were going on target, but unfortunately they don’t register here,” McIntyre said, holding a stat sheet in his hand.
Syracuse, lined up in a 3-5-2, pressed high from kickoff. Kelvin Da Costa, nominally a midfielder, frequently dropped back, almost as a right back, so Chimere Omeze could push forward. It also gave Ivan Irinimbabazi the freedom to tuck in closer to Buster Honeywood. The Orange used that relative stability to create attacking chances.
In the 12th minute, a pass found Landon Darko in the box. He laid it off to Sachiel Ming, but Ming’s head collided with the bottom half of Pitt’s Oliver as the defender jumped at him. Ming lay face to the ground for several minutes after.
Once Ming returned to his feet, Badr Laghjibi picked Omeze out with a through ball, but his shot went wide.
But Syracuse’s attacking prowess had a downside. With so many players pushing up, it gave space on the wings for the Panthers to exploit on the counterattack.
And the Panthers found it quickly. In the 13th, Pitt goalkeeper Jack Moxom’s goal kick found Anders Bordoy on the left flank.
Working down the wing, Bordoy beat Da Costa with a give-and-go with Mamadou Tall. The combination put him through on goal, but SU goalkeeper Juan Martinez-Bastidas got a hand on his shot.
The rebound fell to Albert Thorsen on the right post, and he cashed in, 1-0.
“Pitt’s dangerous in transition,” McIntyre said. “Pitt’s so good that, even in transition, you’ve got to be careful. They can use the ball so well.
So McIntyre made the first of six forward substitutions. In the 26th minute, McIntyre took forwards Laghjibi and Darko off for Bryson Rodriguez and Jordan Grey.
Within 53 seconds, they made an impact.
A misplaced Moxom pass gave Rodriguez possession on the left edge of the box. He passed it to Grey in the center, whose return fell to Ming.
The wide midfielder’s shot went just past the left post. Three minutes later, Kristjan Fortier found Grey on the left side of the box. Grey ripped a near-post shot that was saved. Syracuse continued knocking on the door, but it stayed firmly shut.
Then, Oliver’s reckless defending caught up to him.
In the 39th minute, Oliver slid into Kameron Kist as he hit the grass. Yellow card. Forty-seven seconds later, he wrapped his arms around Grey over in the midfield and tugged his shirt. Grey fell, and referee Austin Siani showed a second yellow, resulting in Oliver’s ejection.
The door was now open.
Six minutes into the second half, Ming’s cross found Dakota Jonke five feet from the left post. The forward laid off to his strike partner Grey, and Cristian LoGrasso saved it at point-blank. But the Orange kept pressure. Two minutes later, Jackson Miller ripped a shot outside the box. It went just over the bar.
Syracuse continuously targeted Ming with switches, and McIntyre continued rotating his players as he searched for the right combination. In the 71st, Darko entered for Jonke, while Gulli took off Grey.
Within seven minutes, McIntyre found his solution. The play began predictably. After cycling through the midfield, Ming, as he had all game, found space on the left wing.
He feinted toward the end line before passing the ball to Omeze, who put in a cross on Gulli’s head. Bingo.
“I think overall, this is a point won, not two points lost,” McIntyre said. “That’s tough to say when you’re a man up, but that’s the kind of respect I have for Jay (Vidovich) and his program.”
It didn’t seem that way when the whistle blew. Gulli wore somber countenance; he had a chance for an 81st-minute game-winner, but he mistimed his bicycle kick and the shot went wide.
With the match finished, Gulli put his hands on his knees to catch his breath before proceeding forward. But McIntyre’s right, a draw with the nation’s No. 10 team is nothing for Gulli to worry about right now.
He has a fan club waiting for him.
