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Colin Biros has been a pain in head coach Ian McIntyre’s backside. Biros kept insisting in practice that if the Orange got into a penalty shootout, he should be the one to take the fifth penalty shot.

On Wednesday, Biros finally got that chance. A score would send Syracuse to the ACC championship. A miss meant the marathon would continue. Biros took a tiny skip toward the ball and then went up high with the shot, sending it straight down the middle of the net to beat the Virginia goalkeeper and win the shootout 5-3.

Syracuse’s players piled up around the two heroes — Biros and Syracuse goalie Russell Shealy, who had made a save earlier in the shootout. Fans invaded the field to join in on the huddle.

“You don’t see too many pitch invasions in Syracuse, New York,” McIntyre said in a postgame interview.

Since there was no overtime in the regular season, this was the first time that either Syracuse (13-2-4, 5-1-2 Atlantic Coast) or Virginia (10-4-4, 5-1-2 ACC) took part in extra time this season. The Orange struggled to find offensive momentum, only scoring on a Jeorgio Kocevski penalty kick in the first half. But after the Cavaliers took a one goal lead in the second half, Syracuse came back and controlled the tempo and pace throughout overtime.

“I thought we were terrific,” McIntyre said. “In the second half, I thought we really took the game to Virginia and I think we deserve to get something out of this game — a chance to compete again on Sunday.”

Lorenzo Boselli tied the match with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, and the penalty shootout advanced the Orange to their first ACC championship game since 2015. SU will take on Clemson, a team that it beat on the road back in September.

Biros said that the win over the Tigers solved an early season “identity crisis” for SU. While it beat ranked teams like Notre Dame and Penn State, the players were still wondering if the opponents that they had beaten were just weaker. The upset over then-No. 1 Clemson showed the Orange that they were actually good, Biros said.

But the confidence of the team was shaken heading into the postseason after a variety of “wake-up calls.” With back-to-back 1-1 draws to conclude the regular season, Biros said Syracuse hadn’t been creating chances, which was concerning. McIntyre said that the Orange were physically struggling a little bit throughout the match.

Early in the match, Kocevski drew defenders so Opoku could get down to the box. But once Opoku had the ball at the edge of the penalty area, he lost control of the ball.

Still, Syracuse got on the board first due to Kocevski’s penalty kick. Opoku went for the ball at the top of the box but got tripped up by Virginia’s Aidan O’Connor. After a review, the Orange were given a penalty, and Kocevski scored where he always did on penalty kicks — the bottom left corner of the net.

“Maybe we’re gonna have to change up my shot with the scouting (for opponents),” Kocevski said.

But more of the scoring opportunities went to Virginia. UVA’s Paul Wiese chipped a cross into the box, where Axel Ahlander headed it to Andreas Ueland, who finished the job with his own header to tie the score. In the second half, Shealy couldn’t control the ball after a save, allowing Leo Afonso to collect the rebound and score.

Afonso scored the last-second goal for the Cavaliers in the regular season and now was primed to score the game-winner in postseason play. But Biros said the Orange realized this was their wake-up call.

“The momentum came after that goal,” Biros said. “Their style invited more pressure from us.”

Minutes after Afonso’s goal, Olu Oyegunle got the ball down to Kocevski, who broke free down the left side. Kocevski crossed to Opoku, who took a shot from the center of the box. But a diving save by UVA keeper Holden Brown kept the score at 2-1.

Still, it was Boselli, the third transfer attacker, who kept Syracuse alive in the ACC Tournament with six minutes left in regulation.

Boselli knocked a pass to Opoku, who immediately gave the ball back to him on a give-and-go. Once Boselli got a touch, he faked an initial shot to shake off Virginia’s Daniel Mangarov and waited to get to the middle of the box. He sent a low rolling shot to the left corner past Brown to tie the match.

“I saw the defender coming from my right and I let him roll,” Boselli said. “At that point, I thought the keeper was gonna expect me to shoot the second post. Instead, I shot the first post.”

In overtime, the Orange continued to build on their momentum. Through the second half and the two extra periods, Syracuse outshot Virginia 12-5.

In the second half of overtime, Johnson rifled a shot from the top right corner of the box. The only thing stopping Johnson from recording the winning goal was another diving save from Brown.

But that would be one of the last saves Brown made on the night as he stopped none of Syracuse’s shots in the shootout. Brown deflected Boselli’s shot to the right side of the net, but couldn’t stop it from going in. Opoku, Kocevski and Curt Calov all shot to the left side. After Shealy got his gloves on Ueland’s shot, Biros’ goal punched SU’s ticket to the final.

Along with the players and fans on the field, the substitutes, like backup keeper Lucas Daunhauer, who were sitting in the SU Soccer Stadium bleachers, barraged Biros and the rest of the team. McIntyre got his first Gatorade bath of the year, dampening his blue sweater, before SU got together in a huddle. As the huddle broke, one player shouted a cry.

“Let’s go win a f*cking championship.”

Published on November 9, 2022 at 10:52 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com