Hendrik Hilpert’s pass found the feet of Boston College forward Simon Enstrom, who blasted a goal into the waiting empty net.

The goal put Syracuse down, 2-0, after having secured its spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament just a week prior against North Carolina State. The loss on Oct. 30 is the last one the Orange has suffered, right before it began an historic streak of wins.

“We won the N.C. State game, knew we were safe in the tournament, we only needed a tie there, which is a bad thing; you should never play for a tie,” midfielder Julian Buescher said. “You say you don’t, but you keep it in the back of your mind.”

That mentality led to what Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre called a “poor, poor” first half. Buescher said Boston College caught SU early as a result. The Orange has won five games since then and tied another before winning in penalty kicks.

McIntyre said Syracuse acquitted itself in the second half of its last game against the Eagles. On Saturday, No. 6 seed SU (15-5-3, 3-4-1 ACC) will get its chance to make up for its 2-1 loss and poor outing against unseeded Boston College (11-7-2, 4-4) on Saturday at SU Soccer Stadium at 2 p.m. in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

“It felt like it was just a case of getting that game over with,” midfielder Oyvind Alseth said. “… We weren’t up for it … If we showed up for that game with a good mentality, we could have played like we did in the second half of that game and we probably would have won.”

The SU head coach said his team deserved to be down and it could have been worse than just 2-0 in the first half in the teams’ last meeting. BC outshot SU, 7-1, in the first half, the lowest total since the Orange played Louisville on Sept. 11.

For the most part, the Orange has managed to bury its loss to the Eagles. Since Oct. 30, SU has beaten then-No. 5 North Carolina, then-No. 2 Clemson, then-No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 11 seed Seattle. It won its first conference tournament in 30 years and the Orange moved to the farthest it ever has in the NCAA tournament with its game in the Elite Eight.

Hilpert looked down at his feet and out of the Ensley Athletic Center as he racked his brain for a BC forward that gave the defense trouble the last time the two teams met. He couldn’t think of a single one.

“I think they are good as a team,” Hilpert said. “I think we are better as a team … they should worry about us, indeed.”

Syracuse hasn’t changed anything it’s been doing strategically to shut down Enstrom or forward Trevor Davock, who scored against SU the last time the two teams played. To Hilpert, the team’s focus has fallen solely on itself and how it can improve.

In the last month, Hilpert praised the back line’s ability to trust each other more and is confident a mistake like he made against Boston College will not happen again. Alseth said he thinks the back line has gained its confidence back having allowed just three goals in six games. Buescher said he thinks the team has cleared up the play-for-a-tie mentality that burned SU in its first matchup with a Final Four matchup on the line.

But until Saturday, all the talk will be put on the field and SU will find out whether it’s worked out the kinks that ended its regular season with a loss.

“We got it against Clemson, we got it against UNC,” Buescher said of getting revenge against teams that have beaten SU, “and somehow the Soccer Gods like us and he says, ‘Oh you get another one and you get to play Boston College.’”

Published on December 3, 2015 at 1:10 am

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati