A feed neared Massimo Ferrin in the box and he stood still. Ferrin didn’t want to touch the ball. He knew who was open to the right of him. 

Ferrin screened his defender and let the ball tread toward sophomore striker Ryan Raposo. There was three minutes left and Syracuse, who’d been quiet for the first 70 minutes in Chapel Hill, kept finding nylon. All alone for the third time on Saturday, Raposo gathered and ripped a shot low into the back of the net. 

“Massimo drew a center back in. Ryan called him off. It was terrific,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. 

Syracuse (4-3-4, 1-2-2 Atlantic Coast) had scored just two goals in its last four games. It also hadn’t won a conference game all season. But on Saturday, the Orange recovered from a 3-1 second half deficit behind Raposo’s first career hat trick to beat No. 18 North Carolina (7-3-2, 3-2-0). Two goals within three minutes set up Raposo’s game-winner in the 87th minute. 

“At 3-1, it would’ve been very easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves and roll over,” McIntyre said. “But we hung in there.”

On Syracuse’s first possession of the match, a clear reached Raposo’s right foot, who quickly passed out to Massimo Ferrin. Raposo shuffled back but quickly turned forward, finding space on the right. The sophomore crushed a ball low, off the hands of UNC goalie Alec Smir and into the net to give SU a 1-0 lead 42 seconds into the match.

The Orange caught the Tar Heels sleeping in the first 10 minutes, pushing forward and finding spacing for chances in box. A foul right outside the 18-yard box gave Ferrin a free kick. He found the head of Raposo, but the sophomore’s downward header hit the left post. Raposo and Syracuse’s success would come in waves.

UNC’s Mauricio Pineda slid a ball toward a one-on-one matchup between SU freshman Noah Singelmann and Tar Heels sophomore Alex Rose. Singelmann played closer to the net, but Rose muscled him back and lunged toward the goal. Goalkeeper Christian Miesch didn’t move on the shot bottom right and waved his hands in shock.

“Our best way of defending was to go after North Carolina,” McIntyre said.

A Julio Fulcar midair bullet would be blocked by Smir’s left knee shortly after, but UNC started to dominate possession against SU’s 3-5-2 formation. With 13 minutes left in the first half, Nyal Higgins’ ankles clicked together in the box, causing him to stumble. Miesch rushed to the open North Carolina striker, Jonathan Jimenez, and missed ball. Syracuse’s net was exposed, but Jimenez kept shuffling right, looking for even more space. 

Hilli Goldhar rushed through the back, for a last-chance tackle attempt. But like Syracuse’s two previous protectors, Goldhar failed, too, tumbling onto the grass. Jimenez slowed down, stood still for a brief moment and nailed a chip shot into the Orange’s goal. Seconds after the play, Miesch slammed his gatorade bottle onto the pitch in frustration. 

On a back pass 11 minutes into the second half, Sondre Norheim misplayed a routine pass out giving UNC a two-on-one 20 yards out. The first pass into the box came toward Goldhar and Jimenez. The SU sophomore stepped in front of the pass, fouling Jimenez and awarding him a penalty kick. Jimenez beat Miesch again, putting the Tar Heels up 3-1.

“I’ll have to look at the tape but I’m a little disappointed with the goals we conceded,” McIntyre said.

Any remnants of Raposo’s early strike had been forgotten with three straight goals from the Tar Heels. Raposo had spent the entire game running around the field, looking for opportunities. He started the opening seconds of the second half running down half the field untouched, dodging and swifting past five different blue jerseys, but his sequence would result in a goal kick. Later, a pass across the box was yards away from the nearest Orange jersey.

In the 71st minute, Higgins booted a ball down the field and Raposo trickled through the crowd of blue jerseys. The sophomore finally ran free, the nearest defender yards away. He stayed composed and beat Smir to give the Orange the offense it had lacked for all but the first minute.

Three minutes later, the Orange beat Smir again. Norheim, a center back, rolled toward the goal and connected off a Ferrin free kick five yards out of the box. Smir stood still, waving his hands as Syracuse tied the game at three apiece.

“I felt we were getting stronger,” McIntyre said, “We had them wobbling.”

The strike invigorated the Orange offense, who started to play more forward. A substitute for Severin Soerlie near the end of regulation led to several chances on goal and SU took back the ball more often than not. 

Raposo’s game-winner was the product of an offense that ran almost solely through the sophomore. Ferrin could’ve attempted a shot but Raposo was in a better spot, having a better game.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions,” McIntyre said.

After regulation ended, Raposo sat on the pitch as teammate-after-teammate ran up to him. Raposo was stoic, but Miesch, when the whistle rang, ran toward Norheim and Goldhar smiling. Syracuse had pulled off the comeback, and the upset.

“The guys shows a lot of guts, grit, resilience,” McIntyre said. “I got a very tired group, but a very happy group.”

Published on October 12, 2019 at 4:39 pm

Contact KJ: [email protected] | @KJEdelman