Syracuse Men’s Soccer Wins Top-25 Showdown vs Notre Dame
A crowd of nearly 2,000 people watched the reigning Atlantic Coastal Conference champions fall in the opening of this year’s conference play.
The 24-ranked Orange dominated possession from the beginning of the match and maintained it for a 1-0 win over the 22-ranked Fighting Irish.
The Orange had three of their six corners in the first 11 minutes of the game.
Two different combination plays in and around the 18 yard box gave Syracuse their first quality chances in both the 13th and 18th minute marks.
The game-winning goal came four minutes later from sophomore Giona Leibold, doubling as his first career goal.
Leibold struck the ball low and hard to beat Notre Dame’s junior goalkeeper Bryan Dowd near post.
Sophomore Nathan Opoku was credited with the assist, adding to his two assists on the year.
The Orange had plenty more shot opportunities before a pair of Notre Dame free kicks sent the game into half time, where Syracuse honored the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Big East championship team that holds the program’s single-season wins record of 17 games.
Syracuse put up eight more shots in the second half, one of those being a bicycle kick from Opoku that was saved.
A second goal did not come for the Orange, but Head Coach Ian McIntyre believes this game was much more than what the scoreline shows.
“We had a ton of chances to score that winning goal,” McIntyre said. “Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, but we [created] quality chances and [it] was an important win for us today.”
The 22-3 edge in shots for the Orange is coupled with a 19-14 differential in fouls, Syracuse with the majority. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Russell Shealy recorded another shutout, his third of the season.
The match marks Syracuse’s first home win over Notre Dame in school history. The Orange are now 4-0-1 on the season, their best start since 2016.
Syracuse will host Niagara on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. before returning to ACC play at Clemson on Friday, Sept. 16.
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