After a stunning opening goal by Binghamton’s Parker McKnight, Syracuse was desperate for a response but had to withstand continued pressure from the visitors. Five minutes after McKnight’s strike, the Bearcats had earned their third corner kick of the game. A second goal would demoralize the Orange in a first half that they dominated.

Syracuse cleared the corner, and the ball landed at the feet of sophomore midfielder Ryan Raposo, who stood all alone on the right side of the field. As both teams hauled down the pitch for the counterattack, Raposo calmly continued his run and delivered a pinpoint looping cross over the head of a Binghamton defender.

The perfectly-weighted ball fell to senior forward Massimo Ferrin, who neglected to take any more than one touch. The five-time goalscorer in 2018 wound up his right foot and crisply struck a one-time volley past a diving Bearcats goalkeeper Mats Roorda and into the bottom left corner.

“One of Binghamton’s weapons is to throw a lot of numbers forward,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “We caught them on a counter-attack from one of their own restarts. We’ve got some pace, it was about getting numbers forward. Massimo took the chance really well.”

“I had time to think about it, the ball was coming right to my foot,” Ferrin said. “It’s just execution at that point.”

The goal jumpstarted Syracuse (1-1) to outlast Binghamton (1-1), 3-1, in Monday night’s home opener at SU Soccer Stadium, earning its first win of the season. Ferrin’s volley was followed by two second-half goals by Raposo, his second and third of the season. The sophomore’s tidy finishes helped the Orange avoid going winless in their first two games of the season, something they haven’t done since 2010.

Amy Nakamura | Co-Digital Editor

Syracuse dominated possession in the first quarter-hour of the game but came away with nothing to show for it, as shots by Ferrin and Noah Singlemann sailed wide of and over the goal.

With all its control in the opening stage, Syracuse primarily operated from the right side. Singelmann, John-Austin Ricks and Simon Triantafillou worked together on moves down the flank that ended twice in crosses by Ricks. But soon Binghamton began possessing the ball deeper and deeper into SU’s half, won two corners and eventually scored a stunning go-ahead goal.

McKnight gathered the ball on the left side outside the penalty area, made a quick sidestep to the right that sent Triantafillou to the ground, and sent a beautifully curled strike into the top right corner of the goal. As the spinning effort flew in the air, SU goalkeeper Jake Leahy, making his season debut, could only watch and hope it sailed outside of the post. It didn’t, and the Bearcats, who finished 3-12-2 last season, had the lead.

“I thought we were playing some good stuff,” McIntrye said. “It was the second phase of a restart, but give (McKnight) credit, we gave him probably a yard too much space. It was a wonderful finish from him.”

Ferrin’s equalizer shifted the momentum back in the Orange’s favor, which they rode out until the closing seconds of the first half.

Less than a minute before the halftime whistle, McKnight came close to giving the Bearcats the lead again, but Leahy got low and deflected the shot out for a corner for his first save of the game. The chance came against the run of play, as SU dominated the end of the first half. The Orange rang off five shots (two on goal) in the final 10 minutes before halftime, ending the half with 12 (six on goal) total to the Bearcats’ three.

“We needed to take our chances more ruthlessly,” McIntyre said.

Syracuse registered the first chance of the second half, in part thanks to the new grass installed at SU Soccer Stadium. As midfielder Brian Hawkins charged into the left side of the penalty area, a wrong-footed Binghamton defender slipped, opening up space for him to shoot. All game, players from both teams lost their footing on the slick surface, but Hawkins’ attack was the only time it led to a chance.

With a half-hour remaining, the ball found Raposo behind the Binghamton backline. The sophomore midfielder controlled the ball and drilled a side-footed finish to the right of Roorda. The strike gave the Orange a 2-1 advantage, their first lead of the night.

“It was a great team effort, I just happened to be on the end of two great plays tonight,” Raposo said. “[The first goal] I heard my teammate calling for it, he had an amazing finish so he’s making me look good. Then the second one, it just happened so quickly.”

Eleven minutes later, Bearcats forward Noah Luescher squeaked through on goal in what was Binghamton’s best chance of the second half. With just Leahy between him and the goal, Luescher churned forward, but his pace was not enough. Moments before Luescher wound up to strike the ball, SU center back Nyal Higgins lunged forward and blocked the shot, preserving the Orange’s one-goal lead.

Raposo added to his stat line on the night with 10 minutes left, sealing the win for SU. This time coming from the right side, Raposo found himself wide open 10 yards out, where Ferrin found him for what was a ground pass into the bottom left corner.

“We have very similar playing styles, we love playing with each other,” Ferrin said of his on-field relationship with Raposo. “I think he enjoys playing with me, too. Our chemistry is only going to get better.”

In Raposo’s few seconds before being mobbed by his teammates, the sophomore let out an emphatic yell and fist pump. After scoring Syracuse’s sole goal from the penalty spot in Friday’s 3-1 loss at Georgetown, Raposo had led the Orange to their first win of the season.

“Getting those first three points are huge,” Raposo said. “I’m happy to score, but I’m happier to win.”

Published on September 2, 2019 at 9:24 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu