Hendrik Hilpert was the last Syracuse player on the pitch. The SU goalkeeper fielded questions about his team’s second consecutive loss to Louisville, the team Hilpert “thought about all summer.” Meanwhile, UofL players sang in the visiting locker room to the tune of “Hey! baby” by Bruce Channel.

“Today I failed as well,” Hilpert said. “They scored one more goal than us and I didn’t make the difference.”

The first road team to win at SU Soccer Stadium since October 2015 continued singing on its way to the bus following its 2-1 victory over Syracuse. Hilpert made five saves on the night, one short of his career high, but Syracuse struggled to create chances. When it did, it faltered. For the 10th time since 2008, No. 7 Syracuse (4-1-2, 0-1-1 Atlantic Coast) failed to beat No. 17 Louisville (4-1-1, 1-1-0).

“This is one of our benchmarks that we set,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “They are one of the premier programs not just in our conference but in the country. Look we’ve come close, I thought we had our moments … unfortunately we let the opportunity slip.”

Since joining the conference in 2013, McIntyre has led SU to victories over every ACC team except Louisville. For a moment on Friday, it looked like the narrative would finally change in front of a crowd of 2,006, the eighth-largest total in program history.

Billy Tanner | Contributing Photographer

Ten minutes into the match, sophomore defender John-Austin Ricks worked a give and go on the right sideline with Jonathan Hagman. Ricks gave the ball the back to the middle before darting down the field. When he received the next pass, he was met by a Louisville defender who knocked the ball out of bounds, granting Syracuse a corner kick. On the restart, Hugo Delhommelle sent the ball near post to a leaping Ricks, who flicked the ball to the back netting before being swallowed by a swarm of orange jerseys.

Ricks’ shot Syracuse’s last for the next 28 minutes. While the Orange offense stalled, Louisville scored once and tallied eight shots. The Cardinals outshot SU 11 to three in the frame.

“It’s just been two tough games. Two frustrating games,” said sophomore midfielder Mo Adams, who has lost in both career matches against Louisville. “(It) breaks my heart once again walking off that field.”

With the game tied at one, Ricks launched a through ball to Tajon Buchanan who had a step on his defender. As Buchanan charged toward the ball, the Louisville defender grabbed a hold of him. The play resulted in a yellow card for Louisville and free kick for Delhommelle just a few yards outside the penalty area.

The crowd pounded its feet on the bleachers as Delhommelle set up for the Orange’s best scoring chance in over 30 minutes. He shot short side at the right post and Louisville’s goalkeeper deflected the ball leaving a rebound for Johannes Pieles. The Syracuse forward struck the ball on one touch, wide right. Two minutes later Mohamed Thiaw scored on Louisville’s 11th shot of the half.

“Ultimately we didn’t create, we didn’t test their goalkeeper enough,” McIntyre said.

Mike Cossaboom | Contributing Photographer

Syracuse held Louisville to just one shot in the second half while tallying only two of its own. SU’s five shots was its lowest mark of the year, under half of its per game average of just over 10.

The Orange struggled to find room in the middle. Louisville utilized a 4-3-2-1 formation for much of the match. With a formation shaped like a Christmas tree, with a strong base while thin at the top, Louisville forced Syracuse to the outside.

Late in the second half, Jonathan Hagman inserted a corner kick from the outside. Louisville goalkeeper Jake Gelnovatch bobbled the ball. Petter Stangeland spun around, attempting an off-balance shot only to meet the hands of Gelnovatch.

“We just need that final quality cross and touch to be able to put it away,” McIntyre said.

McIntyre’s team never found it though. Syracuse’s last scoring chance came with just under 30 seconds remaining in the game Hilpert sent a restart from midfield into the Louisville penalty area. The Cardinals defense swarmed Pieles before he could fully field it. The ensuing throw-in for Syracuse was denied as well.

When the final whistle blew Hilpert fell motionless to the grass. For Syracuse, it was another loss to Louisville.

“In the end it’s always about one percent,” Hilpert said. “Louisville had this percent and we didn’t.”

Published on September 15, 2017 at 10:58 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44