In three minutes, Luther Archimede went from Syracuse’s primary striker, commanding the Orange’s offense and jumpstarting possessions, to its biggest pitfall. 

Archimede received a yellow card in the 48th minute. Then, a ball came toward him and Pittsburgh’s Sito Sena three minutes later. Archimede went up leading with his elbow, and Sena fell flat to the ground. The medical staff rushed out, Pitt players sprinted to the official and Archimede was forced to walk off the pitch at SU Soccer Stadium for the second game this season.

“It’s a big learning curve for us,” midfielder Hilli Goldhar said. “We’ve had to deal with it twice now, so I’d say we’re pretty used to it now.”

For 45 minutes of Friday’s match against Pittsburgh (3-3-2, 1-1-1 Atlantic Coast), Syracuse (3-2-4, 0-1-2 ACC) played a man-down. Two early goals cemented a 1-1 tie, but with a 10-on-11 matchup, the Orange dropped their defensive formation and only got offense from counter attacks and set pieces. 

SU held on down a player in the second half, and five minutes into overtime, Pittsburgh lost a player and evened the playing field. But despite both teams at 10 players apiece in the final stretch, Syracuse couldn’t muster another score en route to its fourth draw in five home games this season.

“That’s two ACC games that we’ve had to play down a guy,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “In both those games, we worked extremely hard to get something out of them.”

In a first half with 22 players on the pitch, Syracuse and Pittsburgh went back-and-forth, showcasing high octane offenses. 12 minutes in, SU’s Massimo Ferrin faked forward and his defender fell backward, trying to catch his footing after the mishap. Trying to find space, he shimmied right-to-left. The defender was late. Then, back to right. The defender was behind the action, again. “You gotta be a little tricky, little unpredictable,” Ferrin said.

The senior attack swiped a cross toward the left side of the net. All Goldhar had to do was fall forward to head in his first goal of the season. 

“Honestly, I haven’t had too many headers in my day,” said 5-foot-9 Goldhar.

Edward Kizza, the ACC’s leading scorer last season with 15 goals, was doubled in the box often to limit his production. The Pittsburgh junior didn’t have an assist coming into Friday’s matchup, but in the 36th minute, Kizza snuck deep into the box and three defenders converged. Knowing the pressure would pull toward him, Kizza slid the ball back to a free Veljko Petkovic. As Petkovic saw the ball touch nylon, he let out an echoing yell at Syracuse’s Julio Fulcar, who sat on the pitch. 

Archimede’s first red card came in Syracuse’s only other home ACC game against Louisville. It happened seconds before the end of regulation, but throughout two overtime periods, the Orange held onto a 0-0 draw. On Friday, the Orange would do the same. McIntyre yelled for players like Severin Soerlie to drop back, playing safe with his midfield and backline. 

“We were trying to pick our poisoning,” McIntyre said.

But the Orange still mustered an even amount of chances. Midfielder Ryan Raposo kept the ball on his foot for two hops, but after twisting for space, lofted a shot into the Syracuse practice fields behind the goal. Defender Nyal Higgins pushed up for a free kick and almost scored after his head grazed the ball, but the shot fizzed wide. Then Ferrin, with seven minutes left in regulation, shot low, almost past Pittsburgh goalkeeper Arie Ammann’s swinging arms.

When the Orange pushed overtime, the Panthers lost a man themselves. In the 95th minute, Petkovic received the second red card of the game for an elbow to the head of midfielder Simon Triantafillou. Petkovic patted each referee on the back and sprinted off the field. 

With a 10-on-10 now, Ferrin crept toward the penalty box 103 minutes into the game. After passing out to Raposo, he was left alone with Ammann again. The senior went for the game-winner, five yards from the net, but the Pitt goalkeeper blocked it. After an eventual boot out of play, Ammann pumped his fist.

“I’m a little down on myself,” Ferrin said. “That’s one I could be scoring 10 out of 10 times.”

So the Orange settled with a tie. Their longest man-down scenario of the season didn’t change the game. But its offense had plenty of opportunities to clinch a win. Instead, McIntyre’s team will live with just a point in its conference standings, again. 

“We were absolutely fantastic. Just warriors to hang in there,” McIntyre said.

Published on September 27, 2019 at 9:57 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman