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When asked to describe his first reaction to Syracuse’s five-goal thriller with No. 8 Stanford Saturday, head coach Ian McIntyre had just two words: “It sucks.”

The Orange’s leader for the last 16 seasons thought for a second, then said: “Second reaction? It still sucks.”

“There are a lot of positives,” McIntyre said. “But it still hurts, and it will for a few days.”

The first 80 minutes of Syracuse’s contest with the Cardinal were some of its best it’s displayed all season. It had a 2-1 lead to show for after a calm right-footed finish by Chimere Omeze from a few yards out. Unfortunately for the Orange, things came crashing down in the final 11 minutes.

SU (2-3-2, 0-1-0 Atlantic Coast) conceded two late goals to No. 8 Stanford (6-1-0, 1-1-0 ACC), leading to a 3-2 loss. Scores from Kristjan Fortier and Omeze launched the Orange in front on two separate occasions, but the Cardinal responded with goals from Fletcher Bank and Trevor Islam to silence the Syracuse crowd and steal a win late.

“That’s college soccer, that’s ACC football,” McIntyre said. “We played a really good team. …But I’m so proud. I think some of you had questions about, ‘Is this team any good?’ I think we answered a lot of questions tonight.”

McIntyre is right. Based on where Syracuse ended its early slate of nonconference matches, there was reason to question whether it was prepared for the gauntlet that awaits in the ACC.

The Orange lost 1-0 to Duquesne despite outshooting the Dukes 17-4. They then outshot New Haven 22-2 but still drew 0-0. SU had struggled to put the ball in the back of the net all season and hadn’t won a game at home. It didn’t help that Syracuse had Stanford, who was ranked No. 1 in the country a week ago, first on its conference schedule.

But the Orange put that aside and battled from start to finish. It nearly resulted in one of their best upsets in recent history.

Syracuse got its early spark through Fortier, who made his first start of the season after an injury kept him sidelined through SU’s first five games.

After the Orange earned a free kick in the attacking half, Ernest Mensah Jr. whipped in a cross from the byline that was headed away by two Stanford defenders. It fell for Fortier on the edge of the box, who tried to hit it on the volley. His shot was blocked but fell right back at his feet. He took a touch before blasting a right-footed shot into the top left corner from 20 yards out. SU led 1-0 10 minutes into the match.

One shot, one goal for the Orange. It was an unfamiliar feeling after coming up empty on their last 39 attempts across the past two games.

Syracuse effectively defended its one-goal advantage for the next 20 minutes, but a handball on Tim Noeding in the box gave Stanford an early lifeline.

Zach Bohane stood over the penalty for the Cardinal and rifled a left-footed shot into the top left corner. Stanford had a goal ruled out for offside shortly after, but Bohane’s goal leveled the game heading into halftime.

SU spent the majority of the second half on the back foot. Most of Syracuse’s action going forward was due to Bright Nutornutsi’s high press on the Cardinal defenders, which created SU’s only shot in the half’s first 30 minutes. The Orange were more concerned with keeping the ball out of their own net.

That got more difficult midway through the period. Tomas Hut was launched into action, making a save on a shot that nearly ricocheted off a Cardinal shoulder and into the net. He made another key stop on an effort from Islam right after.

Stanford got a fantastic look at the net with 19 minutes remaining. A long ball over the top of the Syracuse defense fell into the path of Bank, who was one-on-one with Hut. He successfully rounded the SU goalkeeper and laid off a pass for Shane de Flores with just SU defenders Tim Brdaric and Garrett Holman defending the net. De Flores fired toward the bottom right corner, but Holman made a clutch goal-line clearance to keep the game level.

“I did think we defended them well,” McIntyre said. “But once again, they won it at the end, and they finally broke us down with those balls in the box.”

It sparked some momentum the other way for the Orange. A throw-in allowed Sachiel Ming to whip a cross into the box from the left wing, which Nutornutsi controlled and laid off for Quentin Christey from 10 yards out. Christey tried a right-footed shot through traffic, but it was blocked by a Stanford defender. It fell perfectly into the path of Omeze, who cleaned it up at the far post to launch SU in front with 14 minutes to play.

Three minutes later, though, the Cardinal came charging back. A flicked header fell for Bank, who battled with Brdaric and Kelvin Da Costa for a good 15 yards. Da Costa tugged on Bank’s shirt, and Brdaric tried to close the angle, but Bank ripped a left-footed try from outside the box that stunned Hut. It leveled the game once again.

Syracuse tried to settle down defensively, but Stanford found the winner with six minutes to play. Dylan Groeneveld controlled a cross in SU’s box and flicked it over his head. It found Islam at the edge of the six-yard box, who rifled a shot right at Hut. He made the initial save, but Islam tucked away the rebound to stun Syracuse.

The Orange threw everything forward in the final five minutes and produced three shots, but none required a save from Stanford keeper Rowan Schnebly.

“You can talk about it, you can try to replicate it in practice, but you can’t demonstrate that physicality, that intensity,” McIntyre said. “I think we had a couple of things that went against us tonight, but that’s not to take anything away from Stanford. They’re a worthy opponent, a worthy winner tonight.”

Syracuse likely did enough to get a point against the nation’s eighth-ranked team. But McIntyre knows that in the ACC, “nobody is gonna feel bad for you.”

“Ultimately, we weren’t good enough to get a result tonight,” he said. “But the process is getting better and there are a lot of positives.”

In the standings, it won’t look like the Orange got a result. But in reality, SU gained something from the loss — reassurance. Reassurance it could score after not scoring more than one goal in a game all season. Reassurance it has quality all around the pitch. And most importantly, reassurance it can contend.

“Our guys had doubts…can we play in the ACC against that caliber of teams? The answer is, I think, wholeheartedly yes,” McIntyre said.

“If you are a Syracuse soccer fan, you should be very, very proud of that group of guys,” he added. “A lot of new guys, a lot of young guys, first ACC game. Physically, emotionally, we left everything on the field tonight.”

Published on September 13, 2025 at 11:31 pm
harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6