The announcer’s voice at SU Soccer Stadium announced there was one minute left in the game.

Gripping a one-goal lead, Syracuse needed to hold on for 60 seconds against a Clemson offense that was applying more pressure than it had all night.

The Orange went into lockdown mode. The whole team, offense included, sprinted into the defensive third and created a wall in front of Alex Bono and the SU goal.

With 55 seconds left, Grant Chong made a desperate clear with his left foot. Ten seconds later, Noah Rhynhart did the same. With 30 seconds remaining, Emil Ekblom kicked the ball deep into the Tigers’ corner.

As Ekblom’s clear rolled deeper and deeper into Clemson territory, the 1,007 fans on hand broke into a “Let’s go Orange” chant and banged their feet against the metal bleachers. The announcer counted down from 10 as the game clock ticked away, and the crowd joined in. When the final whistle sounded, the frantic defensive effort turned into a vivacious celebration.

It didn’t come easy, but the biggest win of Syracuse’s season is now in permanent ink.

“(The win) has to be the most important,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “We needed to win one of these.”

Heading into Friday night’s game against No. 19 Clemson, SU was two points out of an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament spot with two conference games to play. With a 1-0 win over the Tigers (10-5-2, 5-3-2 ACC), the Orange (10-6-1, 3-6-1) put itself in the thick of the playoff picture after a gritty effort and an Alex Halis goal that captured the necessary win.

Next weekend, the Orange will travel to No. 12 Wake Forest — the ACC’s top team — with its postseason hopes hanging in the balance. After the Clemson game, McIntyre acknowledged that SU’s heaviest lifting lies ahead.

“The next game is always the most important game,” McIntyre said. “We still have to go play the team at the top in a very difficult game, but we’ve given ourselves a chance now.”

After 60 minutes of stalemate soccer, Halis was, as McIntyre put it, “Johnny on the spot.”

Forward Chris Nanco knifed through the Clemson defense with a series of nifty dribbles and found himself in the center of the Tigers’ box with no window to shoot. But after a Clemson defender poked the ball away from him, it rolled to Halis’ feet. He slotted the ball by Andrew Tarbell and into the side netting of the goal.

“I was trying to get enough space to shoot, but couldn’t,” Nanco said. “Luckily, it rolled right to Halis and he was able to put it in.”

After Halis scored, he had one type of celebration in mind. His teammates chased him and he dodged a hug from defender Skylar Thomas, finally ending up in front of the Syracuse bench and into the warm embrace of assistants Mark Brode and Louis Clark.

Halis never played with the two former players, but has built a strong rapport with them this season. Before the game, he promised a victory in their name.

“I kept telling them leading up that I was going to get the win for them,” Halis said. “They do a lot for us, so when I scored, I just wanted to say thanks and that we were going to get it.”

But SU had to hold on.

The entire game, most notably the final 30 minutes, was played in Syracuse’s territory. The Orange fended off a flurry of chances throughout the game as the Tigers outshot SU 12-5 and Bono made six saves to Tarbell’s two. But the Tigers couldn’t convert.

It made McIntyre think back to last season, when the Orange ripped through the Big East without the growing pains that have surfaced frequently for this year’s squad.

But just one time, as the November wind whipped around the field and the stadium lights turned from piercing to dim, McIntyre allowed himself to tuck those growing pains away and smile upon a monumental win.

“Some guys are going to be sore tomorrow,” McIntyre said, “but I think winning makes that all a little bit better.”

Published on November 1, 2013 at 10:45 pm

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