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Syracuse showed improvement in the final third following its 2-0 victory over Yale on Oct. 18. Four days later on Sunday, Syracuse reverted back to its struggling ways against North Carolina State. 

No. 22 Syracuse (7-3-5, 2-1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) equalized late to salvage its afternoon but the same persisting problems endured during its 1-1 draw to NC State (6-8-2, 1-5-1 ACC). SU has struggled to put together consistent performances as the 2023 season has worn on. In a spot where it searched to back its win over the Bulldogs, its attack was bleak for most of the contest. The Orange outshot the Wolfpack 18-2, and 6-2 in shots on target. Yet, they could only garner a point from the contest. 

SU didn’t register a single shot-on-goal in the first half of play despite outshooting the Wolfpack 7-0 and dominating possession throughout. It fell victim to careless turnovers in the attacking third. And while they remained strong on defense, the Orange’s offensive woes came back to bite them in the 51st minute.

Wolfpack forward Hakim Karamoko streaked across midfield after forcing a turnover off Olu Oyegunle. After catching up from behind, Oyegunle collided with Karamoko and the two both hit the ground. Syracuse’s backline stood still, awaiting a foul call, but no referee blew their whistle. Amid the confusion, Karamoko got up and dribbled around Gabriel Mikina. He took a shot from just outside the top of the 18-yard box that snuck under a diving Jahiem Wickham, giving NC State a 1-0 lead.

“The fact that they scored after five minutes (in the second half) woke us up,” SU forward Lorenzo Boselli said. “Just have to put the ball in the back of the net a little more.”

In the 77th minute, Boselli fired a shot within the 18 that NC State goalkeeper Samuel Terranova extended his leg to stop. But off the rebound, Vusumzi Plamana inadvertently made contact with the ball on his right knee. The ball trickled into the net, tying the match 1-1.

“We got a bit of luck with the own goal,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “We could have done with just a little bit more quality to finish them off.”

Outside of its opening two victories against Providence and Binghamton, SU has registered back-to-back wins just one time. On Oct. 3, it bested Colgate 1-0. Then, it followed up with another 1-0 win over then-No. 13 North Carolina — its biggest win of 2023. 

Since then, the Orange have played their worst soccer of the season. They lost 2-1 to Temple — a baffling result against a team that had one win prior — tied 1-1 at home to then-No. 21 Clemson and shutout Yale 2-0. NC State was SU’s chance to overcome its inconsistency, but the Orange played sloppy once again.

Jeorgio Kocevski passed to Noah Singelmann within the 18 during the 14th minute. Kocevski’s ball went out in front of Singelmann, who had to catch up to it as it rolled toward the end line. Singelmann sent a cross toward the front of the net, where Nate Edwards had a wide-open shot opportunity. But, Singelmann stepped out-of-bounds, negating the scoring chance.

Four minutes later, Mateo Leveque saw Mikina playing up high with space along the right side in the final third. Leveque fed him a ball that was struck too powerfully and ended up out of play. In the 20th minute, Kocevski took a corner that found Nicholas Kaloukian on the far post, but his header attempt sailed above the crossbar. 

Then, in the 34th minute, Edwards and Boselli performed a give-and-go while pushing into NC State’s defensive third. Boselli took it upfield off the final touch and drove toward the net. Wolfpack midfielder Calem Tommy caught up to Boselli from behind and forced him to slide out-of-bounds without getting a shot off.

McIntyre said that NC State “frustrated” Syracuse in the first half. The Wolfpack’s plan was to play with nine guys behind the ball and overload in wide areas, which they did, he said. They sat back on defense and let SU try and materialize its attacks. NC State crowding the final third with defenders allowed it to seal passing lanes and force the Orange to make errant passes and off-target shots.

“(NC State’s) a well coached team and it’s difficult to create those chances,” McIntyre said. “We didn’t test their goalkeeper enough (in the first half).”

After the halftime break, McIntyre adjusted to the Wolfpack by pushing numbers forward. McIntyre made the same switch during the loss to Temple, which ended with Syracuse’s defense lagging behind to give up an 89th minute game-winner. While the Orange’s adjustment to NC State garnered more success on the attack, they couldn’t score despite placing six of its 11 shots on target. 

Three minutes after Karamoko’s go-ahead goal, Syracuse was back entrenched in the final third. Edwards controlled possession on the left side near the end line as Kaloukian made a run inside the box. Kaloukian found open space as Edwards sent a cross, but the delivery flew above the striker’s head. 

In the 59th minute, Edwards delivered another feed inside the box, this time from the right sideline. His long diagonal pass found NC State transfer Pablo Pedregosa near the far post. Pedregosa’s header, though, traveled wide left and out of bounds.

After the Wolfpack’s 77th-minute own goal, SU held the ball in the final third for nearly all of the last several minutes of play. Syracuse pelted Terranova with a litany of shots, but the goalkeeper made multiple crucial saves to keep the Orange at bay. Terranova thwarted two chances from Boselli in that span, while Felipe D’Agostini had an open look near net that was booted high above the crossbar.

“Credit to him, because he made 3-4 amazing saves and he kept them in the game,” Boselli said of Terranova. “We’ve got to work on our finishing, too.”

Published on October 22, 2023 at 7:40 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews