For the first time this season, the Syracuse men’s soccer team conceded two goals in a match. It didn’t prove a winning formula.

The No. 2 Orange (12-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) fell to Louisville (7-5-1, 4-2 Atlantic Coast), 2-1, in overtime at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium on Friday night. And while it was SU’s second loss, It was also the second time this season the Cardinals have beaten the country’s second-ranked club.

“We’ve been on the other side of some of these close games, but every ACC game is very evenly contested,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “Unfortunately tonight against a quality Louisville team we came out on the wrong side.”

Syracuse looked well on its way to setting a program record for most consecutive wins and earning a win over Louisville for the first time since 2008, outshooting the Cardinals 4-2 in the first half. 

In the 55th minute, a Jordan Murrell cross into the 18-yard box was redirected by Oyvind Alseth and touched the hand of a Louisville defender.

Syracuse’s resident penalty kick shooter, Nick Perea, took one for the second time this season, and the midfielder capitalized with a goal into the bottom left corner to give the Orange a 1-0 lead.

But Louisville put on a complete blitz from the middle of the second half to the end of regulation. The Cardinals outshot the Orange 7-4 in the frame, and had two corner kicks to SU’s zero.

In the 79th minute, Murrell was on the other end of a similar play, as a ball went off his hand in the box and set up a penalty kick for Tim Kubel. The Cardinals’ forward froze Syracuse goalkeeper Alex Bono and easily slid a shot into the left corner to even the score.

With six minutes to go in regulation, SU midfielder Alex Halis received his second yellow card of the match and was subsequently ejected. The Orange was forced to play a man down for the remainder of regulation and into overtime.

McIntyre said it’s a turning point in any game when a team is forced to play a man down, but thought his team dealt with the end of the game well.

Six minutes into overtime, Kubel took a free kick from 30 yards out that went off the head off defender Jerry Ramirez and by Bono, who was moving in the direction of the initial shot.

McIntyre told his team after the match not to dwell on the loss and put it in perspective.

“I think it’s a reflection of how far we’ve come,” McIntyre said. “We’ve come down to this environment to play a team with the quality of Louisville and our expectations and hopes are to win the game.

“We’ve done a good job at seeking out those 1-0 games, (but) unfortunately you can’t do that the whole season. We got our noses in front. Unfortunately we just couldn’t get that second goal.”

Published on October 17, 2014 at 11:50 pm

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