Syracuse blanked an opponent through 90 minutes on Tuesday night for the first time this season, but the game wouldn’t be decided until almost nine minutes after regulation.  

With just more than a minute remaining in the first period of overtime, Cornell caught Syracuse out of position. With orange jerseys swarming to the left of goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert, no SU defenders stayed high on the opposite part of the box. When Big Red midfielder Tyler Bagley corralled the ball at the top of the box, he rushed it over to fellow midfielder Ryan Hill. By the time SU recovered, the rest of Hill’s teammates were already dog-piling on top of him in celebration.

“I don’t get it,” junior Jonathan Hagman said, “how he became that open.”

The lone goal of the match sank No. 11 Syracuse (4-2-2), 1-0, against Cornell (2-3-1) at SU Soccer Stadium on Tuesday night. Even though it mustered only one shot in overtime, the Big Red outlasted the Orange for the first time since 2001. Prior to the game, Syracuse had let up two goals in each of its last three games, including a loss last Friday against Louisville. When the defense finally broke through for a full 90 minutes against Cornell, it wasn’t enough.

“The defense as a whole played well today,” Hilpert said.

Just past the four-minute mark, Cornell fired its second shot of the game. Hilpert saved the first, falling late and swallowing the ball into his chest. The second flew directly to his hands off an outside shot from Cornell forward Kepler Despinos. The saves were two of Hilpert’s four on the night.

Aside from the goal, Cornell’s next best opportunity to score came in the 55th minute. Caleb McAuslan dipped and dunked through the SU defense working across the box towards the right of Hilpert. The Cornell midfielder launched a shot which Hilpert denied with two hands. The ball advanced down the field where Cornell goalkeeper Mitchell Meyer stuffed Tajon Buchanan on one of Syracuse’s five shots in the frame.

“For the attackers it’s always our job to win the game and for us to score the goals to win the game,” forward Adnan Bakalovic said. “But tonight we just couldn’t do it.”

Last season Syracuse shutout its opponent 11 different times. When it played Cornell last season on Sept. 20, it had already shutout five teams in just seven matches. But as the shutout lengthened on Tuesday night, it never became clear that’d be enough for Syracuse to win.

In the 79th minute, Harry Fuller cranked a shot to Hilpert’s right. It sailed wide and hit the outside of the cage. Fuller swallowed his face in his hands. It was one of three Big Red shot’s in the second half. The Syracuse crowd let loose a sigh of relief.

It would take another 20 minutes for Cornell to get another legitimate scoring chance. That one went in the back of the net.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re at three goals or one goal, you just didn’t get a shutout,” Hilpert said.

Published on September 19, 2017 at 11:14 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44