Men’s Soccer Falls 2-1 at No. 22 Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y.- Despite a comeback effort to end the first half, University at Albany men’s soccer (5-5-1, 0-1-0 AE) took a 2-1 loss at No. 22 Syracuse (8-2-1, 2-1-1 ACC) on Tuesday night. Freshman Carlos Clark notched his second goal of the season from Philip Persson in the 44th minute.

“I was proud of our team tonight,” said head coach Trevor Gorman. “Syracuse is a very good team that’s well coached and competing at the highest level. We enjoyed some good periods of the game, and are certainly capable of playing at that level going forward. These are the types of games that are great for us as we get deeper into conference play.”

The Orange got out to a quick start, scoring in the 14th minute. Chris Nanco converted off of a UAlbany turnover deep in the Great Danes end.

But the Purple & Gold built momentum towards the end of the period, after struggling to move the ball into Syracuse’s offensive half. On a ball downfield to Jake Barros, Orange goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert edged out to the 18-yard box but couldn’t keep the ball inbounds.

Leo Melgar set up on the right side of the 18 yard box, and hit Bernardo Mattos for the shot on goal. Mattos fired low and near post on the one-time through traffic, but Hilpert punched away the attempt. 

Just before the end of the half, Philip Persson served up a corner kick to the top of the six-yard box, connecting with the head of Carlos Clark to tie the game 1-1 going into the break. Despite a 7-1 differential on corners in the first period, the Danes made the most of their opportunity.

After Danny Vitiello saw six shots to open the second half, UAlbany finally got its crack at the goal as Jonathan Interiano re-entered the game. The junior fired and had his shot saved, but set up a corner kick. Melgar served up the corner, but Gorman’s squad was called offsides.

Thwarting off the initial advance, Syracuse countered in the 78th minute to make the score 2-1. The Orange would take the only other shot in the game.

Despite only taking six shots in 90 minutes, UAlbany put five on target for a season-best shooting percentage (.833). Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Danny Vitiello made eight saves, the second-highest for the Massapequa native in his six appearances.

UAlbany men’s soccer (5-5-1, 0-1-0) returns to America East play on Saturday, with a 2:30 p.m., contest at 2014 NCAA Semifinalist UMBC (6-2-2, 0-0-1 AE). The Danes will be crashing homecoming for the Retrievers.