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The Tigers wreaked havoc on Syracuse just two minutes into the game.

As the teams battled for possession near midfield, Joran Gerbet gained control and sent a through ball up the center of the field. Alex Meinhard was first to the ball and shot out of a cannon toward SU’s net. After outracing Andre Cutler-DeJesus and Dominic Bell, he slotted the ball past SU goalkeeper Tomas Hut to give the Tigers a 1–0 lead.

The early score and a red card on SU’s Michael Acquah in the 15th minute propelled the Tigers to a fast start. After 33 minutes, Clemson stretched its lead to 4-0.

Behind a multi-faceted offensive attack, Clemson (10-2-2, 5-2 ACC) defeated Syracuse (6-6-3, 1-4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) 6-1. It was SU’s second straight loss and the most goals the Orange have allowed this season. Meinhard tallied three goals and Gerbet recorded three assists in the contest.

Entering the match, Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said the Tigers would present it a test. The 2023 National Champions returned many of its players from last season’s meeting, while many of SU’s players had never faced Clemson before. Nicholas Kaloukian was among the few Syracuse players who had, and he didn’t play Friday.

After taking an early blow, SU made its first attack in the fifth minute. Daniel Burko took the ball to the end line before crossing to the top of the box. Burko’s pass drifted to the back of the box and Nathan Scott collected it but his shot missed high.

In the eighth minute, Clemson’s Arthur Duquenne made a run on the left side. He created a one-on-one with Gabe Threadgold, but the SU midfielder clamped down to force Duquenne’s shot out of bounds.

The Orange formed a second strong chance in the 13th minute, but Acquah whiffed on a cross by Braedon Smith. Moments later, Acquah was disqualified from the game with a red card for delivering an elbow to a Clemson player, causing Syracuse to drop to 10 players.

In the 25th minute, Wahabu Musah received a cross and finished a one-touch goal to the right side of the net to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.

Five minutes later, Meinhard scored his second goal of the contest by tapping in a loose ball after a Clemson corner to spark a 3-0 lead.

In the 31st minute, Syracuse worked the ball forward to set up a promising attack. With short passes, Smith became free at the top of the box, but the ball was left too far from his feet and the Tigers took it away.

Clemson made SU pay on the other end of the field. Meinhard slipped through SU’s defense and Gerbet found him on the left side of the net to extend the Tigers’ lead to 4-0.

After surrendering the most goals in a half this season, the Orange pushed the ball up the field. Ezra Widman received a pass toward the left post and he was tripped by Clemson goalkeeper Joseph Andema to set up a penalty kick. Widman slotted the ball past Andema to give SU a glimmer of hope.

Syracuse got one more chance for an offensive attack in the first half, but Sachiel Ming was unable to corral a pass, leading to a turnover and SU entered halftime trailing 4-1.

Three minutes into the second half, Clemson scored off a corner. Tyler Trimnal jumped up to head the ball into the net for the Tigers’ fifth goal of the game.

As SU clawed to climb back into the game, it continued to fall short. In the 55th minute, Threadgold made a run up the left sideline but kicked a cross into the back of a Clemson player to end the salvo. Two minutes later, Smith created space for himself at the top of the box before missing wide.

In the 63rd minute following a free kick by SU, the Tigers cleared the ball out of their own box to start an attack. Clemson pushed the ball up the field and Antonio Illuminato got the ball at the top of SU’s box and faked a shot before depositing it into the net to extend its lead to 6-1.

McIntyre elected to put Jason Smith into the game to replace Hut. The Orange remained strong on defense for the rest of the contest, but SU failed to put together any more attacks.

Published on October 25, 2024 at 11:19 pm

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32