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Men's Soccer

Syracuse heads into the ACC tournament with a 0-0 tie at No. 1 Wake Forest

Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

Syracuse goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert, pictured here from Syracuse's Oct. 20 loss to Clemson, saved a career-high nine shots to preserve his team's shot at tying the top-ranked team in the nation.

By Josh Schafer

For the first time all season, Syracuse shut out an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. But No. 1 Wake Forest (15-1-1, 7-0-1 Atlantic Coast) returned the favor on Friday night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the match ended 0-0 for the Orange’s (6-8-3, 0-6-2) third tie of the season. The tie marked the first time Wake Forest hasn’t won a conference game outright, and the first time it’s been shut out, this season.

“It was nice to finally get something tangible,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said.

With the win, Syracuse picked up its second point in eight conference games.

Syracuse goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert recorded a career-high nine saves to preserve the tie. Hilpert held scoreless a Wake Forest offense which ranked second in the nation with 3.13 goals per game headed into the match. The blank sheet was Syracuse’s second of the year down from 11 last season.

“He’s been very good all year,” McIntyre said. “When called upon, he’s made big saves for us this year. And tonight in this tough environment he was outstanding.”



Syracuse trailed Wake Forest in shots 22 to seven. The Orange never registered a shot on goal while the Demon Deacons tallied nine.

It was the Orange’s third overtime game in conference play, its first two resulted in a loss to Boston College and a tie with Virginia.  Averaging 1.35 goals a game, Friday marks the third time the Orange has been shutout this season.

“We were always going to be absorbing some pressure, especially second half,” McIntyre said.  “When required, and then again in overtime, we kind of dug extremely deep but we were still creating some half chances and could’ve possibly nicked a goal as well.”

The tie brings Syracuse into ACC tournament play next week without a conference win for the first time in its four seasons in the ACC. Thus far in conference play, Syracuse has scored more than one goal just once and has been outscored 14-8 in its eight conference games.

Syracuse will be the 12th seed in the ACC Tournament and travel to fifth-seeded Clemson next Wednesday night. Clemson eliminated Syracuse from the ACC Tournament last season and the College Cup Semifinals the year before.

 





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