No. 3 Syracuse (8-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) will look to rebound from its first loss of the season when it hosts No. 4 North Carolina (7-1, 3-0) Friday at 7 p.m. at SU Soccer Stadium. It’s the Orange’s second straight matchup against a top 5 team. Last Friday, a late Notre Dame goal handed Syracuse its first loss of the year. The Tar Heels are red hot, having outscored their last two opponents 9-1, including a 5-0 drubbing of former No. 15 Boston College.

Here’s everything you need to know about Friday night’s game.

All-time series: North Carolina leads, 2-0-1

Last time they played: Syracuse knocked down the Tar Heels on penalty kicks after a 110-minute stalemate sent the match to a shootout, advancing to the ACC tournament semifinals. A Liam Callahan score followed by a Warren Marshall miss in the sixth round of kicks pushed the Orange forward with a game that technically resulted in a tie. Days later, SU took won its first conference championship since 1985.

The North Carolina report: There may be no hotter team in the country than North Carolina, whose only loss came at home in shocking form to unranked East Tennessee State. Three days earlier, the Tar Heels beat Clemson, 1-0. UNC has allowed only four goals this year, a total its offense eclipsed in one game alone.

Syracuse has a lethal balanced offense, but so does North Carolina. Four UNC players have at least three goals, the second-most balanced attack in the conference, behind only Syracuse.                                                                                                 

How Syracuse beats UNC: In the teams’ last meeting, UNC tallied 13 corner kicks. The Orange had just six. This year, Syracuse has outpaced opponents, 62-30 in corners, and has scored five goals on them. Set pieces have either led to goals directly or rebounds that resulted in scores.

Striking first will give SU its best opportunity. In the only game SU has lost, the Orange didn’t score first. Syracuse scored first in its first seven games but has not in its last two. Look for SU to be aggressive early to try to get back into the win column.

Stat to know: 

9 — Goals UNC has scored in its last two games.

 Player to watch: Nils Bruening, forward, No. 14

The 6-foot-5, 204-pound redshirt senior has size, skill and experience that coalesce into a dangerous threat. His 11-goal total last year was second in the ACC, and the Hamburg, Germany native had three game-winners. Bruening, a Division II Rollins College (Florida) transfer, already has a team-leading four goals in UNC’s eight games this year.

Published on September 30, 2016 at 2:17 pm

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