Syracuse snags 3rd straight shutout in 1-0 win vs. Boston College
Ernest Mensah Jr. delivers a pass to one of his teammates. Mensah helped the Orange secure their third-straight clean sheet victory against Boston College. Aaron Hammer | Staff Photographer
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Momentum. It’s something Syracuse didn’t hold through its first eight games. Before starting Atlantic Coast Conference play, SU didn’t take advantage of its opportunities against teams like Duquesne and New Haven despite handily outdueling them in the shots department.
As a result, the Orange embarked on a four-game winless run to move to 2-4-2 on the season. It seemed like they were in a freefall that even a signature win couldn’t break.
“We didn’t take our chances,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said after losing to the Dukes. “But they’ll come. If we keep creating and get numbers in, we’ll score goals.”
McIntyre was right. The Orange flipped a switch in their last two games. Carlos Zambrano’s second-half hat trick within eight minutes against Colgate put them back in the win column. A convincing 2-0 triumph at California handed SU its first winning streak of the year.
Syracuse desperately needed the momentum to roll into Friday’s matchup with Boston College. And it did.
The Orange (5-4-2, 2-2-0 ACC) downed BC (5-6-0, 1-4-0 ACC) 1-0 on Friday via Bryson Rodriguez’s first-career goal in the 65th minute. Both sides peppered the net with 15-plus shots, but Syracuse never broke. Tomas Hut’s five saves and its backline’s strength helped SU claim its third straight shutout win.
“A few weeks ago, everyone talked about us in a different way. Now, we’ve started to figure out that we’re actually a good team,” senior midfielder Giona Leibold, who provided the assist on Rodriguez’s goal, said postgame. “We’re going to compete in this league.”
Midway through the second, though, it looked like SU was destined for another scoreless tie.
That was until Leibold and Rodriguez connected. With a defender on him, Zambrano touched the ball to the left flank for Leibold, who was left all alone.
In a familiar position, the captain delivered a perfect cross in front of the box. Rodriguez — starting his first career game after debuting versus Cal — was on the other end. Between two BC defenders, Rodriguez timed his jump perfectly, heading the ball into the top left corner to break the deadlock.
McIntyre couldn’t say enough of the sequence postgame. He lauded Leibold’s touch — something SU had yet to see much this season — as well as Rodriguez’s relentless offensive drive, joking he was surprised the freshman didn’t score a few more times.
“That was the Giona Leibold of old — that quality service and getting a midfield runner in there to score,” McIntyre said. “It was a goal worthy to win the kind of combative game that was today.”
SU held onto the advantage for the next 25 minutes, clinching its third consecutive victory.
The win solidified one thing — Syracuse is playing its best soccer of the season. In its previous two victories, it outscored opponents 5-0, producing 32 shots to Colgate and Cal’s combined 19. Against the Golden Bears, Hut also pitched in a season-high seven saves.
Even Boston College’s formidable attack couldn’t break the spell. The Eagles entered with 17 different point scorers and 10 players with at least two goal contributions. But Syracuse’s backline — which ranked fifth in the ACC with eight goals conceded this season — held strong again.
McIntyre’s lineup changes propelled the team’s dominance. Besides starting Rodriguez over Nathan Scott, he opted for senior Gavin Wigg instead of Xavier transfer Ernest Mensah Jr., who’d started all of SU’s previous 10 games. Rodriguez said postgame everyone’s ambition to outdo their teammates has pushed them to improve.
Despite the changes, McIntyre called the back four “fantastic.” The unit left Eagles attackers with tons of open real estate, but it made up for it by tracking them down. The effort led to three BC first-half shots, forcing Hut to only make one first-half save.
The Orange had plenty of offensive opportunities, totaling eight shots by the break. But BC goalie Andrej Borak was simply better. He racked up five saves within 20 minutes, keeping the Eagles afloat momentarily.
Zambrano and Leibold started by sending cross attempts directly to Bolak in the opening five minutes. On SU’s first corner in the 13th minute, Rodriguez floated the ball well over the crossbar. Midway through the first, Bolak also charged at a free Bright Nutornutsi to boot the ball away. Midfielders like Zambrano and Rodriguez often set SU up in attacking territory throughout the first half. But the score remained 0-0.
Still, the barrage boded well for the second half.
“We just kept believing in ourselves, kept pushing. If we keep attacking, keep staying true to our game, eventually those crosses will come in. And luckily, it worked out,” Leibold said.
Syracuse had thrived in the second half recently. All five of its goals versus Colgate and Cal came in the final frame. That was the case Friday, too. The Orange continued their offensive pressure, allowing them to pull ahead with Rodriguez’s tally.
But BC wouldn’t go away. McIntyre felt SU didn’t manage the game well in the second half, allowing a whopping 15 Eagles shots.
But with Mensah alongside Wigg for much of the half, BC failed to capitalize on its endless opportunities. The unit forced Nikolai Rojel into a botched header in the 55th minute, then Wigg and Tim Brdaric shut down two corner attempts five minutes later.
The effort helped it seal the deal after Rodriguez’s finish. Hut got low to deny a Russell Brown liner with 11 minutes left, then pushed out another try a minute later. Amid the merciless BC attack, Hut and Co. stood strong to come out on top.
Syracuse entered with momentum it desperately needed to maintain. Via Friday’s lineup changes and a suffocating backline, it seems SU has finally found a rhythm at the perfect time.
“At the end of day, three points in this league is really tough to come by,” McIntyre said. “So we’re delighted to be sitting (at) six.”
