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In the 54th minute of a 2-0 game, Syracuse was well on its way to a victory over Niagara. The Purple Eagles had only two shots, while the Orange dominated play offensively and defensively. With a more aggressive mindset, SU was in the driver’s seat. But it wasn’t done yet.

Freshman Kristjan Fortier received the ball at midfield, staring at five Niagara defenders. Just SU’s Michael Acquah and Nicholas Kaloukian stood among the overload of Purple Eagles. Yet, Fortier wasn’t fazed.

He created a perfect angle to feed Kaloukian ahead through three Niagara defenders. Kaloukian beat his man, and dished to Acquah, who steamed down the right side. Acquah got in tight and at the perfect moment, passed to Kaloukian, who buried his shot.

The goal gave Syracuse a 3-0 lead — which secured its fourth straight home-opener win.

After scoring in the 87th minute to escape Colgate Wednesday, No. 25 Syracuse (2-0-0, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) dominated Niagara (0-2-0, 0-0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Sunday, cruising to a 3-0 win. The Orange played aggressive defense and quickly pushed the attack offensively to overwhelm the Purple Eagles throughout the contest.

From the jump, Syracuse swarmed Niagara any time it touched the ball, and when the Purple Eagles moved the ball to the outside, the Orange took possession quickly. In the second minute, Cameron Roach attempted a cross to the back post from 35 yards out, but the Orange had two defenders on Felix Kogler, who couldn’t get position. From there, SU trapped Niagara on the outside and forced a turnover.

“We have to organize early and make sure that if there’s a guy in there, we’re really tight so they can’t turn,” SU midfielder Sam Layton said postgame.

Unlike in its game against Colgate Wednesday, Syracuse pushed the ball quickly on offense. The offense started up top with Layton, Chimere Omeze and Andre Cutler-DeJesus, but they quickly looked inside for an opportunity due to Niagara’s tight marking.

“It’s a lot harder when they sit back in a low block, it’s hard to break down,” Layton said. “When they’re pressing like this, pockets open up and that’s when we kind of play around.”

Due to the Orange’s push, the Purple Eagles could only knock the ball out of bounds, or fire it up top to SU’s defenders to reset the attack.

SU created a scoring chance in the 12th minute after Omeze fed Nathan Scott to begin another rush. Scott immediately looked inside and ripped the ball to Ezra Widman, who one-touched it to Kaloukian. He deflected the ball behind, right onto the foot of Acquah. His ensuing shot missed, but the Orange generated a prime scoring chance early.

“I thought our ball movement was very good,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said postgame. “I thought our front guys worked well.”

In the 15th minute, the Purple Eagles had their first chance. Niagara switched fields while the Orange trapped near the sideline, and the ball deflected right to Niagara’s Gianluca Del Priore. He fired from distance but Syracuse goalie Tomas Hut fully extended his body to knock the ball away.

SU controlled the pace of play until it finally cashed in 26 minutes into the match. Layton, holding at midfield, turned aggressive, sending a long ball to Sachiel Ming down low. Ming received and cut in. He tapped to Widman, who one-timed the ball into the back of the net for the opening goal.

“If (Niagara) gets too high, we can go in long,” Layton said.

Ten minutes later, the Orange extended their lead to 2-0. But in the second half of both Colgate and Niagara, the visitors turned up the heat on the Orange.

Right out of the gate in the second half, Niagara fought back. SU’s defense left the middle lane open, and the Purple Eagles created a shot. Jeremy Talsma received the ball in the middle of the field and rushed into the top of the box, but his effort missed wide. After that chance, Niagara couldn’t muster another shot for the rest of the game. 

“Niagara made a little bit of a tweak. Second half they came out, and kind of got after us for about five-to-ten minutes,” McIntyre said. “I was very proud of how our guys adjusted.”

Published on August 26, 2024 at 12:17 am

Contact Nick: nsjepson@syr.edu