Postseason play has begun for the Syracuse Orange Men’s Soccer team, as they will travel to Pittsburgh Wednesday night.
The #4 seed Pittsburgh Panthers will host the #13 Orange in the first round of the NCAA tournament, with the winner advancing to play the winner of Stanford and Louisville. The two teams have played eachother once before this season, as they tied 1-1 at SU Soccer Stadium around a month ago after a 78th minute equalizer for the Orange.
The Orange’s season has had plenty of ups and
downs, as shown by their 7-7-2 record. Unfortunately, some big non-conference results couldn’t transfer over to ACC play, where the Orange finished 1-5-2, with their only conference win coming against Notre Dame in South Bend. Alongside the Pitt match from earlier this season, Syracuse drew their second to last match of the season against Virginia. This record led to them being third to last in a strong ACC this season, their worst conference finish since 2021.
The Orange are marked by their defense, as their ten goals allowed is good for fourth in the conference. However, where this team has struggled, especially in conference play, is with scoring. The Orange have a by far conference worst four goals scored in eight conference matches. This lack of scoring has picked up a little recently, as the Orange scored in each of their last two conference matches, however if they want to beat a team like Pittsburgh, they need to do better on the offensive end.
Pitt on the other hand has been having a great season in the ACC. They currently sit 20th in the United Soccer Coaches poll nationally, and are fourth in the ACC standings. They went 4-2-2 in the ACC and 9-4-3 overall, with some big conference wins over teams the Orange lost to, such as Virginia Tech and Boston College. They also have some solid non conference results, including a draw to #16 Michigan State, although they have some tough losses, including a 2-1 home defeat to #10 Maryland and a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of #1 Georgetown.
Pitt’s a very similar team to the Orange, as they also rely mostly on their defense, however, that has led to more success for them. The Panthers have only given up six goals in conference play all year. However, just like Syracuse, their offense can faulter at times, as while not as bad as the Orange, their ten goals scored still ranks third to last in the conference.
We should see a very defensive game in this one, as these two teams are two that pride themselves on their strong defenses. Another lower scoring game such as the 1-1 draw played out between these two teams in October seems likely, however, that game was played in Syracuse, so potentially the home croud could spur the Panthers to take care of business against the Orange and look forward to competing for an ACC championship. However, an Orange victory has the possibility to save their season, as RPI currently has them on the outside looking in for the NCAA field. A big win or two in the ACC tournament could be just what the Orange need to sneak into the field for this season.
The Orange will take on the Panthers at 7 p.m on Wednesday, November 4th. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX.
