Ian McIntyre says comparing last year’s run to the Sweet 16 and this year’s is dangerous. The defense that the Syracuse head coach put on the field in 2014 sported Tyler Hilliard, Jordan Murrell, Skylar Thomas and Alex Bono.

Thomas and Bono, a Hermann Trophy finalist, were both first-round picks in the MLS Draft and Murrell was a third-round pick.

This year, three freshmen and a junior that played just eight matches last year have helped SU to the same round of the NCAA tournament. First-year defenders Miles Robinson and Kamal Miller and rookie goalie Hendrik Hilpert, along with Louis Cross, have anchored a unit once searching for replacements.

In this postseason, Syracuse has given up just two goals in five games, while last year the Orange allowed five goals in four games. Not only has the 2015 back four improved over last year’s, it bested its regular-season numbers of allowing only 19 goals in 17 games.

Syracuse (14-5-3, 3-4-1 Atlantic Coast) has shut out three opponents in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, only one less than it had in 17 regular-season games. Seattle (18-3-1, 9-1 Western Athletic) averages 2.18 goals per game and is ranked 10th in the NCAA in that category. The mark is also third-best among all of Syracuse’s opponents throughout the season. Against the Redhawks, SU will need the defense that has shown up this postseason to rear its head one more time.

“Starting with two guys that were new in the back and Louis,” midfielder Liam Callahan said, “you just have to get them acclimated to the game, and I thought they did that pretty well.”

Not only has Syracuse’s defensive improvement come at the right time, it’s also come against its best competition. The Orange shut down then-No. 5 North Carolina, then-No. 9 Notre Dame and then-No. 2 Clemson, the third-highest scoring team in the NCAA.

Coming into the regular season, Hilpert’s only game action with his teammates was against Georgetown in the preseason. He hurt his quad muscle and missed the first nine games of the year while Austin Aviza played in net for SU.

“Yeah, I played 45 minutes in preaseason,” Hilpert said. “It was the first time for a longer period that I’ve played with a back three instead of a back four.”

Several players cited the increased experience as why the team has been able to pick up its play. Hilpert said that little things like dropping the ball back to him, an action that requires trust, have become more natural with time.

The defensive improvement has shown on the stat sheet, but Callahan said the team has improved on set pieces, specifically free kicks and corner kicks.

Last season, set-piece defending doomed Syracuse in the postseason. Georgetown midfielder Keegan Rosenberry scored on a back-post header off a corner to even the match at one and send the Sweet-16 game into overtime. Then Jared Rist headed in a corner from the front post in sudden-death overtime to win the game for the Hoyas.

But this season, the last time a team has scored on Syracuse on a free kick or corner kick was when SU played Hartford nearly a month ago. If SU can hold that trend against Seattle, it can again do something last year’s SU team and no other squad in the program’s history has done — advance past the Sweet 16.

“Our younger guys getting a little more seasoned,” McIntyre said. “… It’s also a willingness and a commitment to defending, not just individually but collectively.”

Published on November 29, 2015 at 10:36 am

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati