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For the second straight game, Syracuse was punched in the mouth early on. Against North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals, the Tar Heels struck in the sixth minute en route to a 3-1 win. This time, the Orange fell behind earlier, with Boston University getting on the board in the third minute.

It caught Syracuse sleeping. Alex Bonnington got in behind Buster Sjoberg before setting up Eitan Rosen to put the Terriers ahead 1-0, shocking SU. But unlike the UNC loss, the Orange responded versus BU. Syracuse’s offense clicked, scoring all three of its goals in an 11-minute stretch.

“We just want to keep our heads up, that was the key, to continue to fight and to stay strong,” said Nate Edwards postgame. “Before the game (head coach Ian McIntyre) said always look to your brothers for help and we never put our heads down.”

Despite conceding its earliest goal of the season, Syracuse (9-4-7, 2-1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) came from behind to defeat Boston University (12-4-4, 7-1-1 Patriot League) 3-1 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, as it looks to defend its national championship crown. Tuesday evening was SU’s second come-from-behind win in regulation this season. After trailing, Syracuse responded with three unanswered goals, creating a two-goal cushion in the second half. After their opener, the Terriers registered just one shot-on-target while Syracuse finished with 10.

McIntyre said when his team conceded early against UNC, it was a “lapse on their part” after Gabriel Mikina committed a costly turnover that the Tar Heels turned into a goal. Against BU, McIntyre credited the Terriers, calling their opener a “well-executed goal.”

Bonnington controlled a searching ball over the top along the right edge of the 18-yard box. The attacker played a first-time ball into the middle as Rosen made a darting run into the box ahead of Josh Belluz. Bonnington’s feed hit Rosen and the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year blasted the ball past Syracuse goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham 2:40 into the game.

In the regular season, SU has often come back to rescue ties. But its only win came against Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 in a 3-2 victory. Against Penn State on Sept. 1, the Orange conceded late and scored with two minutes left to earn a 1-1 tie. Against Clemson on Oct. 15, Sjoberg’s free-kick clinched a draw with the Tigers. And most recently, Syracuse equalized late against Virginia in the ACC quarterfinals, eventually winning on penalty kicks.

“We’ve been faced with many different challenges this season, but no matter what our situation is we’re always going to put our best foot forward and hopefully that always gets us over the line,” Edwards said.

This time, Syracuse didn’t leave it late to equalize. In the 23rd minute, Mateo Leveque — who played a key role without midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski — whipped a free kick from the right wing into the middle of the box. BU goalkeeper Francesco Montali came out to challenge but Nicholas Kaloukian got his head to it first, flicking a header toward goal to it 1-1.

The Orange got in front 10 minutes later. Leveque whipped a corner kick toward Belluz. He got a slight touch, but the ball ended up deflecting off of Griffin Roach and into the back of the net for a go-ahead goal to put SU in front 2-1.

“Our response was terrific…they didn’t panic and there was no frustration,” McIntyre said.

During media availability Monday, McIntyre and Sjoberg stressed the importance of set pieces in elimination games. Sjoberg said it was important to stay organized defensively and if SU could score a couple it’d be in a good position.

The Orange scored on two set pieces Thursday. BU head coach Kevin Nylen said postgame that they were the difference in the Terriers’ loss.

“We created and provided them with some issues,” Nylen said. “Outside of that little spell we had to defend after we scored and that’s part of it, but I thought overall, it was a pretty good game.”

If Syracuse’s second goal wasn’t a backbreaker, the third was. Just 37 seconds after the Orange took the lead, they doubled it. Leveque sprayed the ball out to Edwards on the left wing. Kaloukian made a diagonal infield, just getting in front of Quin DeLaMater, heading home his second of the game, putting the Orange in full control. It’s the first time this season the Orange scored three goals in the first half.

For Kaloukian, he became the fourth player in program history to net multiple goals in an NCAA Tournament game.

“I thought Nick (Kaloukian’s) hold up play and his goals were a reward for his hard work,” McIntyre said.

The Orange managed their lead in the second half. But BU looked dangerous at times in transition. McIntyre said SU used a more attacking lineup with Felipe D’Agostini starting and Lorenzo Boselli playing deeper in midfield which created openings. McIntyre said the Orange made adjustments, including putting Belluz into the midfield while Mikina dropped back.

McIntyre said if Syracuse scored a fourth goal, the game would’ve been over. But if BU got a second, it could’ve opened up the game. The Terriers registered six shots in the second half, though never provided any real tests for Wickham in net. A floating header by Bonnington was easily saved by Wickham with 15 minutes left, his lone save of the contest.

McIntyre pointed out postgame that during last year’s national championship run, Syracuse didn’t beat a team by two goals. But it also only had to come from behind once, in its first game. SU fell behind against UPenn, but defeated the Quakers 2-1. Against BU, the Orange avoided a close finish while still showing their ability to crawl back from a deficit.

“We’ve shown this year that resilience to go down and have the ability to kind of bounce back,” McIntyre said. “This team has a lot of character resilience and it’s a good group and I’m just very pleased that we get to be practicing tomorrow.”

Published on November 16, 2023 at 11:15 pm

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