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By the 103rd minute, 10-man Syracuse continued to hold on against Pittsburgh. It had equalized twice amid a host of missed chances during the first 90 minutes to hold off the country’s second-best team and inch toward a draw. It had overcome, to that point, a Luther Archimede red card less than a minute into the first extra time period, encapsulating a game that had featured a number of hard fouls.

But after Julio Fulcar and a Panther flew into yet another challenge and Pitt was awarded one last free kick, Syracuse finally broke down. Though the set piece was initially cleared, the ball fell to Bertin Jacquesson at the edge of the box, and he drove a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

While the Pitt bench stormed the pitch to mob Jacquesson, some SU players collapsed to the floor while another group lobbied the referees for a call that never came. The Orange had “given their all,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. Players were “emotional” after everything that occurred not only during the game but also in the time leading up to it, midfielder Hilli Goldhar added.

“It was like carnage at the end, wasn’t it? Bodies all over the place,” McIntyre said. “It did look a little bit like ‘The Walking Dead’ finale last night.”

A preseason match against Virginia and Syracuse’s season-opener against Navy had been canceled after a COVID-19 case within the program. And 30 minutes before kickoff, as McIntyre spoke to a Pitt coach while players warmed up, news broke that SU had paused most in-person activities due to a cluster of COVID-19 cases on campus. But as SU’s game against the Panthers continued, missed scoring opportunities proved costly for Syracuse (0-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) as it fell to No. 2 Pitt (2-0, 1-0) 3-2 in overtime.

“I’m a disappointed coach, but I’m absolutely – if you ask me how I feel – I’m physically and emotionally drained. And it’s not just because of the 104 minutes, but it’s (what it took) to get us here,” McIntyre said.

Players went through their “rondo” drills during warmup, laughing and smiling even as the campus around them remained in flux. McIntyre watched on from the SU dugout with his surgical mask on. Minutes before kickoff, he huddled the team up and the Orange let out a loud “Let’s go boys!” cheer.

McIntyre said ahead of the game that SU needed to be “brave and aggressive,” not allowing Pitt’s talented players to get on the ball and dictate play. He hinted at a potential change in formation and shape from his preferred 3-5-2, noting that, with 14 new players on the roster, he’d be an “idiot” not to tailor his system to the additional personnel.

And four minutes after the opening kick, one of those additions, forward Deandre Kerr, made a darting run from his left to right and outraced the chasing Pitt defenders to an inch-perfect through ball. The true freshman from Ontario, Canada had both his and the game’s first clear-cut chance,  as he was clean through for a one-on-one against Pitt goalie Nico Campuzano. But like most of the Orange shots in the first half, they were fired directly at the keeper.

Using a 4-3-3 formation, Syracuse applied a high-intensity press that helped it win the ball high up the pitch multiple times in the first half. Archimede, who played as SU’s central striker, led the press and frustrated the Panthers’ defense throughout.

When SU did win the ball deeper in its own half, defenders looked to utilize Archimede’s speed with long balls and helped draw a number of fouls. One foul resulted in a Panther yellow card, and after the fourth foul, another Panther began berating the referee, only stopping after a Pitt coach instructed him to relax.

On one occasion, a Pitt defender miscontrolled another high-arcing through ball as Archimede won possession from the mistake and sprinted into the 18-yard box. But from a tight angle on the left, Campuzano pushed Archimede’s effort wide for a corner.

“We created chances against a good team, physically put a lot into this match,” McIntyre said. “It’s gonna take a couple days to bounce back, but if we weren’t creating chances, we’d probably be a little more worried.”

Compared to Syracuse’s pressing off the ball, Pitt played a slower tempo before looking to break forward with pace once it won possession. The strategy paid off for the Panthers, as they won the ball around midfield, quickly playing the ball out to the right wing, where a Panther flew by converted-fullback Simon Triantafillou before playing a driving ball that was turned in for the game’s opening goal with just six minutes remaining in the half.

The second half was similar to the first, with neither side dominating possession. Pitt crosses from the wings, falling to players centrally, with Panther forwards shooting too close to SU goalie Christian Miesch. But Archimede began to commit infractions — with several reckless slides into Campuzano, including one that resulted in a yellow card — leading to Kerr’s reintroduction, this time into the central striking role.

That played a key role in Syracuse’s equalizer. A ball to transfer forward Manel Busquets looked promising as the Spainard brought it down from the air, but his errant pass gave the ball away. Yet Busquets chased down the Pitt ball carrier, won possession and drove forward at the heart of the Panthers’ defense. He squared the ball out wide to Kerr, who played a short pass back to freshman Jeorgio Kocevski, whose cross found Goldhar. The junior midfielder-turned winger guided his header into the bottom right corner.

“I thought (Goldhar) was a real handful,” McIntyre said. “Scored a good goal and on another day he may have had one more goal and assist.”

With the score at 1-1, Kerr had another chance from 10 yards out after Goldhar feinted his way into the box from his position on the right wing, but the Canadian blazed his shot over. Minutes later, Veljko Petkovic, who scored Pitt’s first goal, had his second of the night as his hard, low drive beat Miesch, who managed a hand to the shot but couldn’t keep it out of his net.

As quickly as Pitt had nudged in front, though, Syracuse responded after Sondre Norheim, who was playing at right back, squaring a ball centrally to Noah Singelmann for a curling shot to his left that beat Campuzano.

But after Singelmann’s goal that sent the match into overtime, Archimede was shown his second yellow card less than a minute into extra time. Thirteen minutes later, the Orange — which turned over half its roster from last season, played three freshmen and displayed the resilience necessary to overcome multiple deficits and limited preparation time against the nation’s No. 2 team — were finally bested.

“It would be very easy for us to make excuses now and in the games to feel sorry for ourselves,” McIntyre said. “We were down twice and even now, it’s 2020, right. It’s a crazy time. And even after this game now, we’re waiting 30 minutes to have another COVID test. That’s the nature of, you know, a surreal 2020.”

Published on October 6, 2020 at 10:04 pm

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