STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford men's soccer suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Syracuse in double overtime on Sunday afternoon, dashing the Cardinal's conference championship hopes.
Stanford (9-5-3) now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate, while Syracuse (8-7-3) advances to the ACC semifinals to face top-seeded SMU on Thursday, Nov. 12, in Cary, N.C.
"We can play a lot better, and I think everybody in the program knows that," said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer. "We were just second best tonight, but now we get time to regroup and look forward."
The two sides played to a scoreless opening half, with Syracuse holding a slight 5-2 advantage in shots. Both defenses did well to limit quality scoring chances, with neither side putting an attempt on target through 45 minutes.
Opportunities slowly began to open up as the second half progressed before Syracuse broke the deadlock in the 86th minute. Following a corner kick, a bouncing ball in the box from Kristjan Fortier was punched away by Rowan Schnebly, but Jordan Grey was there to clean up the rebound and put the Orange in front.
Stanford responded almost immediately, however, as Jack Pymm brought the Cardinal level just 54 seconds later with a spectacular goal. A series of quick passes in the attacking third created an opportunity for the Cardinal, as Dillon Logan set up Pymm for a strike into the back corner of the net to level the score at 1-1 and send the match into overtime
After a scoreless first overtime, Grey once again delivered for the Orange, dribbling toward goal from midfield and fighting through a pair of Cardinal defenders before finding space in the bottom-left corner for the game-winner.
Syracuse held a 13-6 advantage on shots, including four on frame to Stanford's one, as well as a 4-2 edge on corner kicks. Schnebly was the only goalkeeper to register a save, making three stops in the loss.Â
The NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16, with first-round action in the NCAA Tournament set to begin Thursday, Nov. 19.