Syracuse found itself in an unfamiliar role on Friday night, up a man after a Virginia red card. But, with the game tied and in double overtime, Johannes Pieles earned a red card to even the game at 10 men apiece.

No. 7 SU (3-0-2, 0-0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) was unable to score after being a man up and tied No. 11 Virginia (3-0-1, 0-0-1 ACC), 2-2, on Friday night at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jonathan Hagman provided late heroics to tie the game, but Syracuse was unable to muster up the game-winning goal.

The Orange struck first as junior transfer Hugo Delhommelle scored off a penalty kick in the 22nd minute, his first goal of the season.

Thirteen minutes later, Virginia found itself taking a penalty kick with a chance to tie. But a diving save from SU goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert silenced the UVA crowd. Syracuse entered halftime with a 1-0 lead.

Pablo Aguilar began the second half with a goal for the Cavaliers, tying the game at one all. Twelve minutes later, UVA’s Jean-Christophe Koffi fired the ball past a diving Hilpert and into the back of the net. Virginia led by one.

But Syracuse came storming back, again displaying its deftness in handling late-game situations.

“This group has shown a real resilience and toughness,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “To go down a goal in an extremely tough place and to come back in the game late and find a way to tie it up was terrific.”

In its season-opener, the Orange came from behind and won in overtime. The following game, SU scored with less than a minute left in regulation. Returning home, Syracuse, after a red card to Kamal Miller, came back and scored on a John-Austin Ricks chip from 30 yards out.

In this game, in the 83rd minute, Delhommelle pushed a pass to Pieles. He followed it with a through ball to Hagman. One-on-one with a defender and the UVA goalie closing in, Hagman fired the ball and tied the game.

“We look for goal from him because he’s a player that can get in the box and he took that goal extremely well,” McIntyre said.

Immediately after the game-tying goal, the referee walked by Virginia’s Edward Opoku, who said something to the ref. A red card was taken out of his shorts and shown to Opoku. Instead of being a man-down (SU has been on man-down twice this year), the Orange had an extra man.

“That’s our DNA is to try and go after a team,” McIntyre said.

Back-and-forth play led to a scoreless first overtime. In the 103rd minute, John-Austin Ricks collided with a Virginia defender. He was helped off the field by a trainer and didn’t return for the rest of the game.

“It’s too early,” McIntyre said, “but I think he’ll be fine.”

With under six minutes left in double overtime, Delhommelle tackled Koffi, drawing a penalty. Pieles said something to the referee before Virginia took the free kick and earned his second yellow card. He was sent off the field.

The next six minutes Virginia pressed Syracuse. But they never managed to get a shot on goal, the game ending tied at two.

Published on September 8, 2017 at 10:04 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco