Alex Halis walked away dejectedly after his point-blank shot bounced off Boston College goalkeeper Alex Kapp’s fingertips late in the second half. Chris Nanco hung his head after Kapp made a leaping save on a floater to the top of the goal. Korab Syla lay on the ground, clutching his face after his open shot sailed well over the goal in overtime.

But with 7:21 left in the second and final overtime, a game that seemingly contradicted Syracuse’s 14-2-1 season suddenly fit into the rest of the narrative.

Skylar Thomas broke through a scrum in front of the goal, pumping his fist and running up the SU sideline celebrating his goal that decided a game that close all night.

“I can’t even remember much,” Thomas said. “But I think (the ball) came down on my foot, and I just hit it on net, and it went in.”

The No. 3 Orange (14-2-1, 5-2-1 Atlantic Coast) overcame 12 missed shots and nine unconverted corners in the second half and overtime to win 2-1 over Boston College (5-8-3, 1-6-1) on senior night at SU Soccer Stadium on Friday. The Orange dominated possession and shots in the second half, and it paid off in the game’s waning moments.

Syracuse is now guaranteed to host an ACC tournament quarterfinal game on Nov. 9, one season after missing the tournament completely.

“For us today, it shows a lot of character, a lot of resolve to come back, and it took overtime,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “You may argue that this is one of the bigger wins for our program.

“We created a lot of chances tonight, but to get that last one was important.”

Boston College got on the board just 11 minutes in when Diego Medina-Mendez sent a shot across the box. The shot missed his teammates, Syracuse defenders, and eventually the hands of goalkeeper Alex Bono as it hit the bottom-left corner of the goal.

Mendez, shocked, looked back a moment before raising his arms up in the air.

But Syracuse got it back just over 17 minutes later. Right wing Oyvind Alseth got trucked inside the box and moments later Nick Perea was celebrating his penalty kick equalizer.

The Orange, facing a deficit for the first time since Sept. 13, had dug its way out. Now it was Syracuse on the offensive, getting every opportunity.

It’s second goal seemed like it would be inevitable, but time after time it escaped SU.

“Since we haven’t been down, we didn’t know how to react,” Thomas said. “But we reacted properly, we raised our level.”

After the first overtime, McIntyre walked out to the field, a smile on his face. He walked up to the individual players walking slowly off the field and started clapping to them.

A crowd that had grown accustomed to cheering, whether from the full stands or the hill behind the far side goal had spent a night groaning with missed opportunities.

And on SU’s final chance of the night, the roar of the crowd was faint. A mess of players blocked the view of the goal, as the play that unfolded was out of the fans’ sight. But as Thomas emerged, his 6-foot, 3-inch frame escaping every one of his frantic teammates, the cheer became louder and louder.

“One word,” Alex Halis used to describe the game. “Heart. We’ve got heart. We fought and we fought. Coach always told us that we’re a second half team, and we proved it tonight.

Published on November 1, 2014 at 12:08 am

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