Syracuse Picks up Much Needed Win With Triumph Over Colgate
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse Men’s Soccer picked up a sorely needed win over an inferior Colgate Raiders team Tuesday night, winning 1-0. Syracuse moved to 5-2-3 on the year.
The Orange were coming off a 5-3 loss at the hands of conference rival Duke, a loss that resulted in a plummet to 18th in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, and a switch to Jahiem Wickham in goal for the Orange.
Apparently, the Orange defense took those five goals personally, holding Colgate without a shot through the first 23 minutes of action. Head Coach Ian McIntyre spoke after the game on his teams defensive performance. “It’s a willingness from us to defend from the front.” Said McIntyre “I thought our back three, Pablo (Pedregosa), Buster (Sjoberg) and Gabbie (Gabriel Mikina) were terrific tonight with Jahiem (goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham) in front of them…”
The Syracuse offense joined the party In minute 12, as forward Nicholas Kaloukian deflected a ball in front of the net from his teammate Mike Suski to put his team up 1-0.
The Orange led at the half, but were struggling to piece together much of anything offensively. Some of the blame certainly has to go the Orange’s way, but the performance of Raiders goalkeeper Andrew Cooke, who made multiple sprawling saves in the first half, cannot be ignored.
Early in the second half Syracuse would see their best scoring chance in quite some time, with a beautiful sequence of passes leading to a great look for defenseman Noah Singelmann inside the box, but once again Cooke came up with a big time save.
Syracuse goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham didn’t see much action throughout the night, with Colgate putting up only 5 shots all game. However, minute 58 was his time to step up, and boy did he, robbing Raider forward Timmy Donovan of the tying goal with a desperation save as he slid toward the left goalpost. Head Coach Ian McIntyre said Wickham was “very solid”, but that he’s not sure who will take the pitch in goal for the Orange on Friday at North Carolina. “We made a decision for this game…” said McIntyre.
Frankly, the second half was even quieter than the first, and Kaloukian’s goal would end up being the difference maker in a 1-0 win for the Orange. Syracuse is currently preparing for a trip to Chapel Hill on Friday for a highly anticipated clash with 13th nationally ranked conference foe North Carolina. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. eastern time.
Colgate is next in action at home vs Bucknell on Friday. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m. eastern time.
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