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When talking about Gabriel Mikina’s opening goal, Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre brought up a memory from practice.

McIntyre said Mikina told him to let him go forward during a training session a couple of weeks prior. Mikina said to “give me the ball and I’ll shoot from 30 yards out,” according to McIntyre. SU’s head coach said when Mikina shot, the ball sailed over the post. He said Mikina’s effort ended somewhere in Syracuse’s South Campus and that they haven’t found it since.

But on Wednesday, instead of skying his shot, Mikina drove a goal into the bottom corner of the North Carolina State net, giving SU a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. Goalkeeper Samuel Terranova got his hands to it but couldn’t keep out the attempt.

Mikina’s fifth goal of the year opened the scoring for the Orange (8-3-6, 2-1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) who notched a season-high five goals in a 5-0 win over NC State (6-9-3, 1-5-2 ACC) in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Following Mikina’s opener, Daniel Diaz Bonilla, Felipe D’Agostini and Jackson Glenn provided SU with a spark off the bench. Like its last meeting with the Wolfpack, the Orange had no problems generating shots. What stood out tonight was their execution to finally put a team away.

“Tonight, we got that second goal. That third goal really kind of opened it up. I’m very proud of the guys,” McIntyre said.

Entering tonight’s game, SU was ranked 201st nationally in terms of shot accuracy, putting just over 32 percent of its strikes on goal. This lack of efficiency proved costly when the two teams first faced off in a 1-1 draw on Oct. 22. Despite outshooting the Wolfpack 18-2, the Orange only attempted six shots on target. Tonight, SU put seven of its 13 shots on net, resulting in a season-high five goals.

Following Pedregosa’s opener, a dangerous cleating by a Wolfpack defender sent SU’s Julius Rauch to the ground late in the first half, forcing him to leave the contest. Less than a minute later, Mateo Leveque dumped a pass into the box for D’Agostini, who used two touches to pop a pass up to Diaz Bonilla. The forward received the ball as it fell and whipped a strike past a diving Terranova to the back-right corner, doubling SU’s advantage at halftime.

“Julius brings a lot to us on the field, so losing him was tough. Scoring that second goal right after shows that we’re going to play for all our brothers, all our teammates,” Mikina said.

But NC State didn’t give up easily and relied on its lone goalscorer in the two teams’ last matchup, Hakim Karamoto. The freshman worked a give-and-go with speedster Calem Tommy into the box and put a left-footed shot on target in the 51st minute. Syracuse goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham dove to his left and managed to paw the ball with his left fingertip out of play.

On the ensuing corner kick, Mikina poked the ball free for an easy clear. Soon after, a steal by defender Olu Oyegunle set up a threatening Orange offensive attack. Liverpool native Jeorgio Kocevski dished a pass into Diaz Bonilla, and a header to D’Agostini allowed for a wide-open third goal.

“We were a little bit sluggish and sloppy to start the second half. But then that third goal really calmed us down and the game opened up,” McIntyre said.

When leading this season, Syracuse has tended to ease up its offensive pressure, resulting in occasional defensive lapses. Against the Wolfpack, the Orange kept their foot on the gas all the way through. Two minutes after D’Agostini’s goal, Diaz Bonilla dodged down into the right of the box and smashed a beautiful cross to newly substituted Glenn, who finished with a header straight into the net for a fourth in the 72nd minute.

A terrible pass attempt by NC State to its goalkeeper left D’Agostini and Diaz Bonilla running side-by-side and unguarded. The former found the latter, who executed his second goal of the night. Off the bench, Diaz-Bonilla finished with his first two goals and two assists of the campaign.

“I got fortunate enough to get on the field and put away the chance when it came,” Diaz Bonilla said.

It was smooth sailing from there for the Orange, coasting to a five-goal win. On the coldest night of the year, their offense was hotter than ever. A quarterfinal matchup with No. 9 Virginia awaits on Sunday.

“We’ve thought we had goals, and at some stage, we were going to catch a team. I’m delighted that we found a way to stay alive,” McIntyre said.

Published on November 2, 2023 at 12:14 am