Four minutes and eight seconds into overtime, Syracuse’s defense fell victim to another “individual error” that cost it a game. Freshman Dylan McDonald — in just his second career game — crept too far forward and was left chasing Boston College’s Simon Enstrom. Enstrom passed to Callum Johnson and he slotted the game-winning goal past Hendrik Hilpert’s left side.

“It’s a really devastating loss,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “I thought we deserved to take something out of this game. We got punished with a couple mistakes again.”

In the days leading up to the contest, multiple Orange players and associate head coach Jukka Masalin called the game a “must win.” The Orange had lost of six of seven and fallen out of the United Soccer Coaches rankings. Johnson’s shot sunk Syracuse (5-7-2, 0-5-1 Atlantic Coast) as the Orange fell in overtime, 2-1, to Boston College (5-8, 1-5) in Newton, Massachusetts.

Defensive stalwart Kamal Miller did not travel with the team and was “unavailable,” McIntyre said. Instead, SU deployed McDonald, and Hampus Bergdahl, on either side of freshman Sondre Norheim. The backline forced the Eagles’ forwards into crosses and long-distance shots. The Eagles had 16 total shots, six of which were on net.

Despite six Orange corners in a 10-minute span early in the first half, the game remained scoreless. As Boston College gained more possession, the Eagles made the Orange pay in the 29th minute as senior midfielder Henry Balf scored on a low shot from 12 yards out to make it 1-0.

The game opened up a bit in the second half as both teams sent men forward looking for its first conference win. In the 52nd minute SU found the equalizer when sophomore Johannes Pieles headed home a cross from Simon Triantafillou.

With less than 10 minutes, Jonathan Hagman — SU’s leading goal scorer — had a point-black header deflected away by goalie Chavez Borrelli. It was the Orange’s second-best scoring chance of the night but the game remained tied and Hagman walked away and threw his hands up in the air.

“That wins the game for us,” McIntyre said of the shot.

When Johnson’s goal connected with nylon, Hilpert stayed on the ground for a few extra seconds and stared at his defenders. Meanwhile, Johnson took his shirt off and ran across the field in celebration as Boston College secured its first conference win. Syracuse got on the bus still looking for one.

“Tonight, was a combative soccer match,” McIntyre said. “I thought we created some chances. We just got caught in overtime.”

Published on October 13, 2017 at 9:32 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez