Louisville pushed as the clock ticked under a minute in the first half. With the score knotted at one, a cross-field pass found its way to Mohamed Thiaw, the Cardinals’ top striker. Thiaw, somehow, found defenders switching to give him a one-on-one with Sondre Norheim. He beat Norheim and fired past the diving Hendrick Hilpert to give Louisville a one-goal lead.

After the match, Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre described that shot as the “dagger.” The defensive mental lapse with under a minute left in the first half ended up as the deciding factor as No. 17 Louisville (4-1-1, 1-1-0 Atlantic Coast) defeated No. 7 Syracuse (4-1-2, 0-1-1) Friday night at SU Soccer Stadium, 2-1. McIntyre has never beaten Louisville, and SU’s first loss at home since Oct. 17, 2015 came off a “lottery ball” corner kick, as goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert described it. The second half Louisville played more reserved, but any counter attack was smothered by the Orange defense.

“Our defense dominated throughout the game,” junior defender Kamal Miller said. “Just a few mistakes in the ACC, that’s the difference between a win and a loss.”

Syracuse struck first with a quick goal off a corner kick, headed in by John-Austin Ricks. But Louisville answered with a corner kick of its own. The cross aired over the packed penalty area and ended up on the foot of Cody Cochran far post. Hilpert threw his hands up, but the ball sailed into the back of the net.

Louisville’s offense pushed often in the first half. Through balls and across-the-field passes created 11 first-half shots for the Cardinals, though the Syracuse defense had an answer to almost every play. Mo Adams stole the ball multiple times and pushed transition. Other times Miller used his body to corral loose balls. An offensive push by UofL’s Adrien Cabon entered Syracuse’s penalty area. Adams and Miller both closed in on Cabon, stripping him of the ball.

Other times, Louisville got shots off but Hilpert was right there to make the diving stop. Before Louisville’s first goal, it had a free kick just outside the 18-yard mark. Thiaw, who “can be the best (forward) we play against,” McIntyre said, lined up for the kick. He fired a ball top shelf, but Hilpert shuffled right, stretched and punched the ball out of bounds.

Switching off Thiaw and allowing him to go one-on-one with a defender was one of those lapses that doomed for the Orange. The forward, who last year finished second in the country in game-winning goals and scored the lone goal in a 1-0 Louisville win, scored again.

“If a guy one minute before halftime gets in front of your goal,” Hilpert said, “eleven players on the field are responsible.”

Coming out of the break, Louisville often settled when it gained possession and hung back, seemingly reluctant to push on offense. Syracuse countered with aggression.

As the offense pushed upfield, the defense followed. The unit played close to the Louisville strikers and midfield that straggled around the center of the field. Anytime the Cardinals defense tried to play the ball out of pressure, Syracuse defenders were there to make the stops and keep the ball in Louisville’s defensive half.

“We stepped it up,” Miller said of the team’s second-half play. “We took our mistakes on the chin and said it was time to man up.”

Paired with Thiaw’s exit with an injury 63 minutes in and a more aggressive defensive approach, Syracuse limited the Cardinals to just one shot. Though, Thiaw returned less than 20 minutes after he exited.

Despite Louisville playing more relaxed and focusing on defense rather than offense, SU stopped any attempts at counters. Despite boasting the best offensive team SU has faced thus far, Hilpert said, the Orange stood strong in the second half.

“The damage had been done,” McIntyre said.

Published on September 15, 2017 at 11:03 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco