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CARY, N.C — Syracuse did it. The team that was unranked to start the season. The team that was projected to finish fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division. The team that had a combined 18 wins over the three previous seasons won the 2022 College Cup for the first time in program history with a victory over No. 13-seeded Indiana.

Syracuse (19-2-4, 5-1-2 ACC) defeated Indiana (14-4-7, 3-1-4 Big Ten) 2(7)-2(6) in penalty kicks in the College Cup final, achieving the pinnacle of collegiate soccer and besting the semifinal finish it had in 2015. In head coach Ian McIntyre’s 13th season, the Orange finished with the most wins in a single season in program history.

Colin Biros was called upon as the fifth penalty taker, needing to score to send the game into sudden death, locked at four each. He did. Julius Rauch and Levonte Johnson both made their need-to-make spot kicks, and a Russell Shealy save — the goalkeeper said he had a “feeling” he was going left — on Maouloune Goumballe, set up Amferny Sinclair’s game-winner.

“I was just confident,” Sinclair said. “I know I gonna score the winner.”

Syracuse had previously been in overtime twice this season — in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Penn and in the ACC Tournament semifinals against Virginia. The Orange won both, the latter of which came in penalty kicks.

The Orange had originally held the lead for 46 minutes after Curt Calov netted a goal with an assist from Nathan Opoku in the 33rd minute, 86 seconds after Indiana tied it at one. Opoku said he just crossed it toward the back post with no intended target, but Calov met the pass, controlled it and scored from close range.

Syracuse was 10 minutes away from securing the national championship in regulation.

But in the 80th minute, Indiana’s Herbert Endeley tied it up at two. With no SU player pressuring, he fired toward the upper left corner. Shealy dove and got a hand to Endeley’s shot but couldn’t stop it, resulting in another 20 minutes of play before penalty kicks.

In overtime, Indiana continued to attack the same way it had all game, slipping in through balls, typically to Samuel Sarver. In the second half, way off his line, Shealy made a clearance after Sarver was in on goal, but the clearance went straight to Tommy Mihalic as he collected the ball in the Orange’s defensive half. Mihalic tried to shoot over Shealy, who back-pedaled and dove to push the ball out.

Syracuse had seemed to settle back defensively, even though the lead had gone away. Statistically, the Orange outshot the Hoosiers 20-15, though it felt like IU had more of the threatening chances, including a couple of chances in the opening five minutes.

Goumballe worked along the right side of the box near the end line. He played a low ball to the top of the penalty box, where Endeley’s shot went just wide. Then, on a corner, Sarver’s redirected header just missed the target.

Syracuse, however, wouldn’t get its first major opportunity until a three-minute span midway through the first half. Jeorgio Kocevski won the ball in the midfield before dribbling and shooting from outside the box. His attempt sailed over the bar. A minute later, Opoku attacked the Indiana backline, using a couple of stepovers, before tapping the ball to the right inside the box to Noah Singelmann who overlapped. Singelmann’s shot was saved by JT Harms.

In the 24th minute, Opoku put Syracuse up 1-0, marking the first goal Indiana has conceded all tournament. Opoku received the ball in the top right of the 18 with a minimal shooting window. He said he saw Harms cheating toward the near-post, leaving the upper-left corner open for a left-footed curler. Harms didn’t move. McIntyre said Opoku “down-played” the difficulty of the goal, which required a “little bit of magic.” McIntyre said “it was a pretty good goal.”

“When the ball was being passed to me, I just realized I had enough space to turn,” Opoku said. “So I just played the far post.”

All season long, Syracuse has been good on the counterattack, netting game-winners against Cornell, Clemson and UNC, but in the first half, it almost got scored on by one. Olu Oyegunle was too slow on the ball as he tried to pass it wide. Sarver pressured him, won the ball on the right flank and had numbers trailing. But as Sarver crossed it, Kocevski tracked back to get a touch. Shealy picked up the loose ball.

Patrick McDonald provided the Hoosier’s response with a volley inside the box in the 32nd minute. Shealy couldn’t see it as there was too much traffic in front of him, watching the ball fly into the net, the score tied at one.

“Transitional moments both ways. They hurt us and I thought we lacked a little bit of quality in the first half,” McIntyre said.

In the second half, the Hoosiers continued to find counter attack opportunities by slipping in through balls to Sarver. But the forward was called offside twice within the first 17 minutes of the second half, sparking frustration from the Indiana crowd. Sarver almost drew a penalty, when it appeared he was tripped in the box, but the referee opted to play on.

Jeorgio Kocevski navigates around the midfield while Indiana’s Samuel Sarver looks on. Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor

With 17 minutes remaining, Syracuse almost conceded an own goal. Indiana crossed the ball from the left side of the box, but a whiffed clearance hit the crossbar. Shealy dove on it before it crossed the goal. On another dangerous cross from the left flank with 12 minutes remaining, Shealy bobbled it before falling on top of it.

But eventually, Indiana leveled it, as Endeley notched the upper 90 goal in the 80th minute, despite Shealy getting a touch on it. In the final 10 minutes, besides an Indiana header that went left of the goal, both teams couldn’t find the net.

“I was worried at that stage,” McIntyre said of IU’s equalizer. “We looked a little big leggy. I was worried for our group. They dug deep. They kind of found a second wind in a little bit in overtime.”

In the first half of overtime, SU’s best opportunity came from Johnson, who drew a foul at the top of the box. Calov’s free kick went straight into the wall. Indiana begged for a penalty kick call in the final 10 seconds of the first overtime half, but it wasn’t called.

Opoku, the College Cup’s offensive most valuable player, continued to create chances for SU as the game extended into overtime. He got the ball on the top of the box, shot and created a corner, though it was comfortably handled by the Hoosiers.

Indiana had two prime opportunities to win it in the second overtime as the trophy waited on the centerpoint of the scorer’s table. Sarver dribbled into the box on the left side, but his shot hit the side netting. With four minutes remaining, Jack Wagoner had a go near the penalty spot that shanked right. For Syracuse, Giona Leibold sent a curling left-footed shot that just missed the frame.

Syracuse was 1-0 in penalty kicks this season and the Hoosiers last played in a penalty shootout Sept. 10, 2021. Shealy knew Goumballe was going left on the Hoosier’s eighth penalty kick. It was the most crucial save of the game, the tournament and the season as Sinclair drilled the ensuing SU spot into the upper right with the new national championship squad storming after him.

“This was a championship prize fight that went all the way down to penalties,” McIntyre said.

Published on December 12, 2022 at 9:17 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini