Three Standouts for Syracuse Men's Soccer vs Colgate
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (All Syracuse FN) – The Orange beat Central New York rival Colgate 1-0 on Tuesday night in the 72nd all time meeting between the two schools. Sitting at 3-6-1 on the year and struggling up to this point in the Patriot League, facing the Raiders at home must have been circled as a game to look forward to for #18 Syracuse. The Orange have been treading water in ACC play, pulling out just one win from their first four in-conference games. Forward Nicholas Kaloukian got things started for Syracuse just twelve minutes in, his deflecting touch enough to change the path of Michael Suski’s shot and beat the Colgate keeper. Kaloukian’s tap-in ended up being enough, as neither team was able to break through for the rest of the match. While a win and a shutout are always good news, managing just one goal against a side like Colgate isn’t the most convincing of performances for a team that intends to make another deep NCAA tournament run.
Below are three standout players from the match:
Nicholas Kaloukian
With a lot of attacking talent moving on from Syracuse after their championship-winning season, eyes shifted to a University of Michigan transfer to take up a share of the scoring burden. Sophomore Nicholas Kaloukian has been starting since the first game of the season but didn’t register a goal contribution in his first five appearances for the Orange. But with his goal tonight, Kaloukian has scored three times and assisted twice in the last five games he’s played. “If we’re creating chances for him, I think he’s going to be scoring goals,” head coach Ian McIntyre said postgame. “Nick’s here to score goals and it was a terrific cross, he’s getting into those areas and I’m very pleased for him.”
Michael Suski
Senior Michael Suski was not a name that many fans expected to see on the teamsheet on Tuesday night. Coming into the Colgate match, the Boston College transfer had only logged 74 minutes throughout six appearances on the year. Suski was largely deployed as a wingback against the Raiders, patrolling the left sideline and proving instrumental to the win. When asked why Suski started, McIntyre had praise for the senior. “We knew that we’d be trying to break down an organized Colgate team and needed that quality out wide,” McIntyre said. “That’s his most minutes of the year, and I thought he had that quality tonight, especially in the first half.”
Suski’s shot just 12 minutes into the game was tapped home by Kaloukian, and that goal proved to be the matchwinner. He picked up his first assist as an Orange as a result of that play, on the same night he won his first start from coach McIntyre. When asked about it postgame, Suski had a grin on his face. “It felt great, honestly. Any way I can help the team is what I’m gonna do,” he said. “I put it across, he had a nice flick and we celebrated – it was great.”
Jahiem Wickham
Sophomore goalie Jahiem Wickham picked up his second start of the season on Tuesday night – and held Colgate scoreless for his second clean sheet of the year. Wickham made a couple impressive plays throughout the game, tallying two saves, but he didn’t have too much to do. Syracuse limited the Raiders to just five shots, and only two on goal. “Jahiem [Wickham] was very solid, and I think the group in front of him gave him an easier night,” McIntyre said. “But even so, if you get shutouts, you get chances to win soccer games.”
Regular keeper Jason Smith had started seven of nine games for the Orange this year but struggled heavily in Syracuse’s 5-3 loss to Duke last Friday. Smith made a bad tackle leading to a penalty for the Blue Devil’s first goal, and had the ball stripped from his feet by an opposing forward later for another easy score. When the first question at the post-game press conference was regarding why Smith didn’t start Tuesday’s match, McIntyre sighed. “It was just to give Jason [Smith] an opportunity to breathe,” he said. “You guys watched the game - it was a tough night for our team, it was a tough night for him.”.
Fans will be watching to see whether coach McIntyre sticks with Wickham or goes back to his usual number one option when Syracuse visits #13 North Carolina on Friday.
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