Hofstra’s Danny Elliott barreled toward Syracuse’s goal with a one-on-one against Orange goalie Hendrik Hilpert.

SU had tried to trap Elliott offside, but the ball was played perfectly ahead of time, giving him a chance to break the scoreless tie in the 56th minute.

Hilpert did what any goalie is supposed to do. He charged forward to take away Elliott’s angle. Hilpert dove at the ball. Elliott sidestepped him but lost the ball for a brief moment before winning it back, with Hilpert still sprawled on the ground.

Elliott fired a shot away, but the ball never found the back of what was seemingly an empty net. Instead, it hit the body of senior defender Louis Cross who had recovered just in time and saved what looked to be a surefire go-ahead goal for the Pride.

“I wanted to make — probably what a goalkeeper would do, except I can’t use my hands,” Cross said laughing. “I just tried to make myself as big as possible and luckily it hit me.”

No. 5 Syracuse (6-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) played a stifling brand of defense throughout the game even though the team played with a more offensive-heavy midfield lineup for the first time. But Cross, Hilpert and the rest of the defense starred in the 1-0 win over Hofstra (2-3-1) on Tuesday night at SU Soccer Stadium.

It was Syracuse’s second straight shutout and third in four games.

SU’s five-player midfield line is flanked by Liam Callahan and Oyvind Alseth at each wing. So far this season, the Orange had usually opted to plug two of the other three spots with defensive minded midfielders. Mo Adams locks down one spot with a revolving door at the other.

But SU dropped down Nanco to attacking midfielder to start the game, meaning one of the other defensive midfield spots was gone. It was up to Adams and the backline of Cross, Miles Robinson and Kamal Miller to prevent scoring opportunities, down one helper.

“Mo Adams in front, I thought, was immense,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “That’s tough to keep Joseph Holland (Hofstra’s leading scorer last year) as quiet as he was tonight.”

Holland finished with no shots at all. He did get injured in the 65th minute, writhing in pain during a stoppage of play and being helped off the field without putting any weight on his left leg. But within eight minutes, he returned to the field.

For much of the game it was Louis Cross who shut down any of Hofstra’s attacks. Twice in the first half he stuck his leg right in front of a ball a Pride player had just kicked, preventing it from going into a dangerous area either in the box or on net.

On his left and right, respectively, Miller and Robinson pressed up, preventing Hofstra’s midfielders — the strength of the team — from ever getting comfortable with the ball.

Elliott’s shot aside, Hilpert went largely unchallenged the entire night. Hofstra only got off four other shots and while Hilpert was awarded with two saves, neither one was much of a real scoring threat.

“You have to rely on your teammates,” Hilpert said of his defense. “I have a lot of faith and I really rely on those guys.”

Published on September 13, 2016 at 10:52 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer