Ben Polk ran toward the Syracuse bench and pounded his chest twice with his right hand before being engulfed by a mass of jumping Orange players.

“Let’s go,” Polk yelled, clenching his fists. “Let’s go.”

His screams of celebration were more than just that. With a back-post header on a corner kick from Liam Callahan in the 79th minute of the game, Polk sent Syracuse to its first Final Four. His screams were the release of pressure SU had built up all game to finally crack through and get the winning goal. They were the exorcism of Syracuse’s last lost — Oct. 30 at Boston College in the final game of the regular season. And they were the realization that Syracuse would be headed to the College Cup.

“It means everything,” SU defender Louis Cross said. “This is the reason why we’re here.”

Since losing to the Eagles, the Orange went undefeated in six games, won the Atlantic Coast Conference title and made it to the Elite Eight. On Saturday, in front of 1,923 fans at SU Soccer Stadium, the No. 6 seed Orange (16-5-3, 3-4-1 ACC) made history again, beating Boston College (11-8-2, 4-4), 1-0, to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history.

Syracuse will play No. 2 seed Clemson (17-2-3, 6-1-1) on Friday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

“There’s only one more week left in the season and to be playing is something special,” head coach Ian McIntyre said.

Five minutes before kickoff, McIntyre brought his team together in an arm-in-arm circle. “We want it more. We want it,” McIntyre seemed to say to his players, and from the start of the game it looked like it.

Syracuse applied constant pressure through the first half, taking risks while Boston College had to shift its weight back on its heels.

“Our brand of soccer is just to keep pushing and attack and throw numbers forward,” McIntyre said.

SU forward Chris Nanco fired a hard line drive of a shot from about 20 yards away that hit off an Eagles player inside the box and skipped to Boston College goalie Alex Kapp, who had to make a diving save. SU midfielder Julian Buescher’s shot from the left corner of the penalty area forced Kapp to make another diving stop.

Seven shots and four on goal in the half, but the Orange had nothing to show for it. Boston College, meanwhile, had failed to even record a shot.

McIntyre’s squad pushed the pace in the second half, too. Any stoppage of play was followed by a quick throw in or free kick. The head coached begged an official to speed up the game, spinning his hands in a circle.

“We didn’t get an early goal in the second half, but you could feel the momentum,” McIntyre said.

Boston College’s first recorded shot on goal didn’t come until 70 minutes into the game. The ball was blocked on the way and never made it to the net. Minutes earlier, the Orange had managed five corners kicks in a row — though each one was sent away.

On the 13th corner of the day, Boston College finally cracked. Polk was undefended 5 yards away from the far post and connected with a cross that Callahan didn’t think anyone was going to get to.

“It was only a matter of time to actually counter on one and score,” Callahan said.

“… It was just finding that one goal to push us forward.”

After the game, McIntyre joked that he doesn’t know how far Kansas City is from Syracuse.

About 1,008 miles.

And the Orange will be one of just four college soccer teams left playing there on Friday.

Published on December 5, 2015 at 4:07 pm

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