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Kris Shakes laid on his stomach on the grass in front of his own goal, cradling the ball for dear life.

Syracuse had just missed on back-to-back point-blank chances at goal – its best two of the match so far. One was saved by the Penn State goalkeeper himself and the rebound was deflected by his defenders.

While the Orange had thrown threatening attack after threatening attack against the Nittany Lions, they still hadn’t scored. They outshot Penn State 10-0 for the first 30 minutes of the second half.

With just fifteen minutes left, the Orange followed a familiar script. Last season, they lost six games by one goal and three of them in overtime. But just five minutes later, Syracuse went on the counterattack.

Christian Curti booted the ball downfield off an interception from a Penn State throw-in deep in Syracuse territory. In a matter of seconds, Colin Biros streaked downfield with the ball and serviced Jeorgio Kocevski on the left wing. Kocevski crossed it to Nathan Opoku, who lobbed it up to Biros. Biros nutmegged his defender at the left corner of the 6-yard box and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal to break the 0-0 tie.

Shakes pumped his fist in disgust and was promptly caught in the middle of a Syracuse dogpile.

“I was hoping Nate would play it to my feet but he put it up in the air anyway,” Biros said. “I knew that if I tried to just touch it to my left that he would bite, so I cut it a little inside and he did, went through his legs and then I put it over [number] six.”

Syracuse (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) dominated No. 21 Penn State (0-1-1, Big Ten) for much of the contest, but finally secured the win with Biros’ finish in the 80th minute to win 1-0. Penn State took every opportunity to shorten the match, but Syracuse relentlessly attacked the Nittany Lions’ goal on their way to a 29-10 advantage in shots and 10-4 in shots on target.

McIntyre constantly reminded his players to keep the formation tight to keep Penn State off the ball and uncomfortable. He especially praised Amferny Sinclair for an “outstanding” performance on Penn State midfielder Seth Kuhn. The Orange pursued Penn State aggressively at every turn and tried to speed the game up every chance they got.

“We wanted to keep the tempo going, that was a big part,” Ian McIntyre said. “Maybe on another day we would have finished that game 0-0, but we kept pushing and we saw their guys were in distress physically, so we tried to play faster and not slower.”

While Syracuse took their throw-ins on the run, Penn State often waited for as long as they could before returning the ball to play. The Orange were determined to not let Penn State’s slower play affect their tactics. Shakes bled as much time off the clock as he could on goal kicks.

“Shakes is very good at doing that, very good at getting in people’s heads,” Biros said. “We try to stay out of that, stay out of their game and play ours.”

Part of Syracuse’s relentless pressure came through reliable and fresh reinforcements from the bench. On the contrary, the Nittany Lions hardly used their substitutes and the starters’ fitness levels declined towards the end of the match. While Syracuse got 123 minutes from its bench, Penn State only recorded 38.

Biros was excellent in 52 minutes off the bench. He continually supplied Syracuse’s forwards with incisive balls into the box and offered a jolt of energy into the midfield.

“We needed someone like Colin Biros who has that calmness on the ball,” McIntyre said. “He’s a really intelligent player and he’s playing his best soccer since he’s been here at Syracuse.”

The energy from the bench allowed the Orange to constantly pressure the Nittany Lions on the ball. Penn State was never truly comfortable and only had a couple stretches where they possessed the ball for a long period in Syracuse’s half.

“We tried to be tight on them and give them no time on the ball because average players become really good players with time on the ball,” Levonte Johnson said.

Biros said Penn State’s backline was more inexperienced than its 2021 group, which posted eight clean sheets on its way to a Big Ten title. Biros also pointed to the graduation of centerback Brandon Hackenberg, who was drafted in the first round of the 2021 MLS Superdraft by Orlando City SC.

After Syracuse broke through in the 80th minute, Penn State immediately began wasting as little time as possible and lofting balls into the box. But it was too little too late, as goalie Lucas Daunhauer ensured the Orange hung on to the win.

“I thought in the second half we were terrific,” McIntyre said. “We deserved victory.”

Published on August 28, 2022 at 11:26 pm

Contact Connor: cpignate@syr.edu