HAMILTON, N.Y. — Zeroes ticked across the scoreboard at Beyer-Small ’76 Field and only one set of LED lights lay dormant — the shots under Colgate’s side of the board.

Syracuse goalkeeper Austin Aviza exited the penalty area and immediately sought out defender Kamal Miller standing near midfield to shake his hand and give him a hug. Aviza made his way to defenders Louis Cross and Miles Robinson amid the pouring rain to do the same.

“I just throw them a lot of credit,” Aviza said. “They’ve been excellent these past few games so it just makes my life 10 times easier.”

For the second game in a row, the back line of Cross, Robinson and Miller kept SU’s opponent from registering a shot on goal. Colgate managed eight shots, but the only ball Aviza had to make a play on was a cross that he punched away late in the game. The clean sheet helped the Orange (6-2-1, 1-1-1 Atlantic Coast) to a 2-0 win over the Raiders (4-3-1, 1-0 Patriot) on Tuesday night.

“They put us under some pressure,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “They put a lot of balls in the box. They’ve got some size in the back that came forward on restarts and I thought defensively Louis, Miles, Kamal — and Juuso (Pasanen) in front — played very well.”

Colgate tried to push the ball toward the middle from the start of the game, but the Orange was able to thwart each attempt coming in the run of play.

Miller easily headed away a chipped through ball in a one-on-one opportunity on the Raiders’ first offensive possession. Pasanen, a midfielder, missed an oncoming Colgate attacker with a jab of his leg, leaving CU midfielder Jared Stroud open near the back of the penalty area. But Robinson bodied the forward enough to force the ball out of bounds past the goal line as Stroud waved his hands up and down in the air.

The Raiders most dangerous chances came on corners and free kicks, but SU defenders were always there to knock the ball away. Each of CU’s seven corners and at least four free kicks were launched into the box.

Even one of the throw-ins that Colgate managed in SU’s defensive half was heaved into the box, only to be knocked away.

“We just did a good job of defending the first ball, the second ball and protecting our goalkeeper,” Miller said. By Aviza’s estimation, his defenders won every ball in the air.

Aviza has grown more vocal as the season has carried on, he and his teammates said, which involves positioning the defenders in front of him on restarts. He cupped his hands on each set piece to communicate with his defense and even tugged at some of their jerseys to get them in the right spot.

When the Orange defense knocked away two consecutive Colgate corner attempts with less than four minutes left, Aviza said nothing, however, he just clapped.

Colgate’s last attempt came on a free kick from 45 yards out to the right of the net with just a few minutes left in the game. The ball sailed high in the air, curving left, but Aviza rose through a crowd to punch the ball away.

Even in SU’s first shutout of the year against Bucknell on Aug. 30, Aviza had to make eight saves. But in the last two games — the only other shutouts — he’s touched the ball most on goal kicks and never to stop a shot on net.

“We’re really stepping up and becoming more cohesive as a defensive unit,” Miller said.  “It’s clearly showing with the stats that we’ve achieved in the last two games and I think it’s only going to keep getting better.”

Published on September 29, 2015 at 10:48 pm

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