When Liam Callahan puts both of his hands up before a corner kick, he signals his teammates to line up straight and create chaos for the goalkeeper. Once Callahan puts his hands down, he bumps the ball to a teammate who launches it toward the net.

In the 88th minute Tuesday night, with the game knotted at zero, Callahan put his hands up. Syracuse players created chaos. When Callahan put them down, he sent the ball toward the net. Johannes Pieles broke from the line and headed the ball into the goal, powering No. 5 Syracuse (6-0) to a 1-0 win over Hofstra (2-3-1) at SU Soccer Stadium.

“It comes down to quality serve, with Liam and Oyvind (Alseth),” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said of his team’s set pieces. “And when balls are put into those dangerous areas it becomes difficult for teams.”

The Orange broke nearly 90 minutes of scoreless play, avoiding a tie or upset at the hands of a team that just beat SU a year prior in 2015’s season opener. Syracuse, amid its best start in 32 years, controlled the ball for much of the first half, just as it did in its contest with the Pride a year ago. Only this time, the Orange broke through late.

Sergio Camargo set up Callahan’s corner by dribbling hard toward goal and dodging Hofstra’s Rory Murphy. His shot was deflected, scooting into the right corner of the field, where Callahan would eventually assist the game-winning goal from.

“I was kind of just focusing on putting it near the near post area,” Callahan said, “and hopefully somebody would get a head on it.”

When the ball went into the net, Pieles spread his arms wide. Hofstra goalkeeper Leonard Arkhanhelskyi paused for several seconds after the game’s end, in disbelief at what had happened three minutes earlier.

The Orange outshot the Pride 11-3 in the first half, and those early shots frustrated Hofstra. The Pride’s Joseph Holland corralled teammates Adam Savill and Oscar Ramsay near midfield. He pointed at them, tapping their chests with the back of his hands, as if urging them to step up defensively and stop allowing Syracuse to move the ball near the box.

For much of the quiet second half, though, Hofstra and Syracuse split possession. Several corner kicks throughout the game had ended in scrums or wide shots.

“First half, we were dictating the tempo, taking chances,” McIntyre said. “I think we could have worked their goalie a little bit more.”

Ten minutes into the second half, Chris Nanco broke away but had his dribble blocked by a defender. Less than a minute later, he fired a shot that was smothered near the 18-yard box. Nanco tossed his hands in the air, frustrated at another wasted effort.

Pieles followed up on the rebound with another shot that resulted the same way. The crowd grew slightly louder. Yet the scoreboard remained 0-0.

Minutes later, Kamal Miller signaled for Nanco to pass it from the corner. Miller darted hard, dribbled past a defender, lost control and surrendered the ball. After Pieles missed a pass opportunity at around the same time, he put his hands in prayer formation, in front of his eyes.

Midway through the second half, McIntyre pressed his hands down to slow SU’s pace. The game had opened up in the second half, both teams frenetically going back and forth. Chance after chance for the Orange ended in a wide shot. Even Hofstra, which had barely possessed the ball in the first 45 minutes, stayed with the pace.

Not until the final 10 minutes of the game did Syracuse shake itself into urgency and get the good shots that it had generated early.

It was a freshman, Pieles, who emerged from the chaos in front of the goal.

A freshman who hadn’t scored since Aug. 28.

A freshman who put Syracuse one win away from tying the program’s record for best start to a season.

Published on September 13, 2016 at 10:48 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21