Questions about the sources of Syracuse’s goal-scoring production were silenced for at least one night. On Friday in Hamilton, N.Y., the No. 20 Orange had three different goal-scorers secure a 4-0 victory over Colgate in the team’s season opener.

Syracuse (1-0) played without its five leading scorers from last season – losing three to graduation, one to injury, and one to transfer. But against the Raiders, new faces produced similar results. Three players — freshmen Alex Halis and Emil Ekblom and sophomore Noah Rhynhart — scored their first career goals.

“It’s a great start,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “This is a very difficult place to come and we knew that. It’s great to come away with a win and a clean sheet.

“We’ve got so many new faces, young guys, in the attacking third. It’s going to be important that they kind of share the load. And they did that tonight.”

Syracuse and Colgate played a helter-skelter opening half. The pace moved quickly and several lead passes were sent too far. The field tilted back and forth and play became physical.

SU’s first scoring opportunity came on a header from Halis at the 16th minute. In the 19 minutes following Halis’ header, Colgate received four fouls and two yellow cards.

That span was bookended by another header from Halis, this time one that eluded Colgate goalkeeper Liam Stapleton and gave the Orange a 1-0 lead.

“Alex was very good, especially in the first half,” McIntyre said. “When he was finding space and picking the ball off he was very dynamic and was creating chances. He’s an exciting soccer player, and when he’s on, we’re on.”

Syracuse held a 1-0 halftime lead.

The Orange continued to dominate the scoring opportunities into the second half. Yet SU had just a one goal lead. In the 59th minute, Rhynhart and Ekblom came in for Halis and freshman Chris Nanco. Syracuse found an immediate spark.

In the 69th minute, Rhynhart picked up a loose ball near the top of the box and sent a shot on net. The sophomore forward from Albany, N.Y., beat the Colgate keeper to give the Orange an insurance goal.

A minute later, Ekblom received a through ball from Nick Perea and scored his first career goal.

He scored his second of the game on a feed from fellow Norwegian and freshman Oyvind Alseth to put the game away.

“There’s that beauty of youth and innocence sometimes. When you’re playing so many freshmen there’s this youthful exuberance, energy, and enthusiasm,” McIntyre said. “We’ve never talked about specific players filling specific goal-scoring responsibilities, it’s just playing.”

Published on August 31, 2013 at 12:10 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu