As Syracuse midfielder Lorenzo Boselli fell to the turf, Boston College men’s soccer fans’
let out a collective gasp at the Newton Campus Soccer Field. In the 88th minute with the game tied, there appeared to be a chance the referees would reward Boselli with a free kick.
Luckily for BC fans, the referee did not blow his whistle. Boston College (3–8–5, 0–5–3 Atlantic Coast) held on to salvage a 1–1 draw against No. 19 Syracuse (7–3–6, 2–1–5) on Friday night in BC’s final regular season game. The Eagles managed to snap their four game losing streak on Senior Night behind seven total shots and resilience throughout the match.
The Eagles took possession at the opening whistle and were awarded a corner kick after Syracuse fouled midfielder Augustine Boadi. But the Orange responded almost immediately, as forward Nicholas Kaloukian received a precise long ball, but he was ruled just offside.
Syracuse, however, struck first on a Boselli strike. Midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski found Boselli streaking towards goal, and he made his run count with a hit into the bottom left corner of the net, just beating Eagles’ goalkeeper Brennan Klein.
Syracuse continued to get into threatening positions on BC’s side of the field, culminating in a free kick in the 13th minute. After the free kick header was off target, it appeared the Eagles started to regain their energy. Midfielders Marco Dos Santos and Drew Serafino subsequently began to press high up the field and force the Orange into turnovers.
After this, BC began to attack the Syracuse goal with more urgency. Midfielder Ted Cargill had the opportunity to draw the Eagles level with a header off of a great cross, but he was not able to convert the opportunity into a goal. BC still kept the pressure on the Orange, looking dangerous for the rest of the half.
BC recorded six shots in the first half.
The turning point, however, arrived at the 34th minute when Eagles midfielder Xavier O’Neill drove through the Syracuse defense after receiving a pass from Dos Santos. O’Niell curled a beautiful shot into the bottom left corner for the much-needed goal to tie the game at 1–1.
Alfie Hughes had an opportunity two minutes later, as drove through the Orange defense but missed his shot from outside the box. Syracuse’s Felipe D’Agostini then rattled the crossbar on a free kick after a foul gave the Orange promising field position.
The game entered halftime with the score knotted at 1–1.
The second half became even chippier, as both teams committed hard fouls—there were 16 total in the half. BC’s midfielders Sam White and Jack Burkhardt each received yellow cards in the half, as did Orange midfielder Gabriel Mikina.
Syracuse opened the half on the front foot, and D’Agostini just missed a header over the crossbar that would have put the Orange ahead.
O’Neill responded with a phenomenal run through four defenders in the 57th minute that had the crowd on its feet. He had multiple teammates open, but chose to keep the ball himself and eventually got dispossessed.
In the 59th minute, White hit a great knuckleball free kick that caught Syracuse goalkeeper Jaheim Wickham by surprise. But Wickham was able to recover the ball after dropping it, and the match stayed tied.
The rest of the match was similar, with back and forth action on both sides of the field. Each squad had possession for large portions but was not able to get a quality final pass to find the game-winning goal. In the 84th minute, a Syracuse free kick led to a BC fast break, but the Eagles were not able to take advantage of the opportunity.
After the near penalty in the 88th minute, the match started to slow down, as it ended with almost no stoppage time.
Each team finished with two shots on goal.
