Syracuse defeats No. 25 SMU 2-0 to secure 1st ranked win, extend win streak to 4
With its win over SMU on Saturday, Syracuse snagged its fourth straight victory for the first time since 2014, moving its 2025 record to 6-4-2. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Through its first eight games, it would’ve been fair to count Syracuse out of Atlantic Coast Conference championship contention, let alone a shot at a national title.
Staring at a 2-4-2 record — its worst start under head coach Ian McIntyre — frustration rippled throughout its lineup as its offense struggled to muster more than one goal per game. But behind it all, McIntyre remained patient. He knew his team would break through eventually. To him, the setbacks were simply part of the process.
“To be a championship team and build something special, you have to go through tough moments and moments of trauma and discomfort and feel uncomfortable,” McIntyre said during media availability on Sept. 10. “We’re playing good soccer, we just haven’t scored as many goals as we’ve hoped to.”
Just as McIntyre anticipated, the Orange eventually caught fire. Winners of its last three contests, SU looked to keep the good times rolling Saturday night. It wasn’t easy, but SU once again prevailed.
It only needed two shots on goal to do so. Powered by strikes from Landon Darko and Carlos Zambrano, Syracuse (6-4-2, 3-2-0 ACC) snagged its fourth straight win with a 2-0 victory over No. 25 SMU (5-3-3, 2-1-2 ACC). The win marked SU’s first over a ranked opponent since it defeated then-No. 3 Pittsburgh on Nov. 1, 2024. The Orange also posted their fourth straight shutout for the first since 2014.
While routine and superstition tend to take over when a team embarks on a hot streak, that hasn’t been the case for SU. Instead, it’s been the opposite.
Making key lineup changes at the right moments has been one of the driving forces behind Syracuse’s recent string of success, like its 1-0 victory over Boston College. After making his first appearance off the bench in the match before at Cal, freshman Bryson Rodriguez slotted into the starting XI for the first time. In the 65th minute, he scored the game-winning goal.
Simply to keep mixing things up as much as possible, McIntyre even joked his team welcomed a change in weather Saturday to keep the Mustangs guessing.
“We’d like it to snow, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” McIntyre said.
The snowflakes never came, but another change in SU’s lineup did. After not starting for the first time all season versus BC, Nathan Scott returned to SU’s midfield to open the contest. In the seventh minute, he nearly gave it the early lead.
After receiving a pass from Kristjan Fortier, Scott found himself unmarked at the top of the box. As SMU’s backline collapsed around him, the junior fired a screamer toward the net, but a last-second block denied the chance before it reached goalkeeper Martin Dominguez.
From there, the first half turned into a battle of the backlines as open space for set pieces became hard to come by. By the end of the frame, Syracuse recorded two corners and SMU took zero. At the same time, both squads left with only one shot on target. The difference? The Orange made theirs count.
Assisted by a misplaced pass from the Mustangs, Darko found himself alone on a breakaway with only Dominguez to beat in the 43rd minute. With a right-footed strike, the freshman notched his second goal of the campaign and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The tally gave SU its first halftime lead over a ranked opponent this year.
If it hadn’t already, a sense of urgency started to set in for the Mustangs. SMU rattled off three shot attempts over the first seven minutes of the second half, but none of them found their way on net.
In the 65th minute, the ball trickled to Zambrano after a Tomas Hut goal kick and Chimere Omeze header. Zambrano ran into the final third with pressure to his right from an SMU defender. With seemingly no other option, he fired a long-range shot that floated off Dominguez’s outstretched palms and into the cage.
“He has that magic in his boots where he can do that,” McIntyre said postgame of Zambrano’s goal.
Even with nearly 25 minutes left to play at that point, the goal proved to be the nail in SMU’s coffin.
Not allowing a single shot to make its way to Hut down the stretch, Syracuse’s five-player backline of Gavin Wigg, Ernest Mensah Jr., Tim Brdaric, Garrett Holman and Omeze carried it the rest of the way to secure its seventh clean sheet of the campaign and a season-altering ranked victory.
From Day 1 this season, the Orange have put in the work. They’ve faced adversity and rolled with the punches. Now, they’re finally being rewarded each time they step on the pitch.
“Since the Colgate game, we’ve had momentum. This team has been doubted since the beginning, and this is (just) the start,” Zambrano said to ACC Network postgame. “We’ve shown it for the last three games, and now here’s a fourth win in a row. Who’s next?”
