North Carolina midfielder Alex Olofson ripped off his shirt and paraded around a muddy Fetzer Field.

Some Syracuse players watched with their hands on their hips and expressionless faces as the Tar Heels players celebrated their second goal in less than 10 minutes.

“We’ve got a very disappointed group,” head coach Ian McIntyre said.

The Orange had been in the lead for more than 52 minutes of the game. It had put up more shots than any of UNC’s opponents all season and was on the verge of handing the No. 2 team in the country its first loss of the season.

But eventually SU cracked. Two goals with less than 17 minutes left — the game-winner coming with just 7:28 remaining — prevented SU from holding onto the lead and completing the upset, as the No. 22 Orange (8-3-1, 2-2-1 Atlantic Coast) fell to the No. 2 Tar Heels (10-0-1, 5-0), 2-1, on Saturday.

“We’re a little bit unfortunate to come away with nothing tonight,” McIntyre said. “… We had a firm lead and we just needed to score that second goal.”

Midway through the first half, midfielder Oyvind Alseth played a corner kick to midfielder Julian Buescher, who was standing next to the flag. Buescher passed the ball back down the left sideline to Liam Callahan, who sent a cross into the center of the box. Miles Robinson nicked the ball with his head enough while falling away from the net to get it to bounce.

The goal put Syracuse ahead, 1-0, and had UNC on its heels.

At the end of the half, the Tar Heels only had one shot on goal — a dribbler from more than 18 yards away that rolled directly to Syracuse goalie Hendrik Hilpert. Syracuse, however, put five on net, including a point-blank chance from forward Ben Polk that UNC goalie James Pyle had to save with his shin.

“We were in a good spot,” McIntyre said. “We were relaxed. The group was good.”

In the second half, things changed. The Orange warded off the Tar Heel’s initial post-half push, McIntyre said, but as the game neared its end, North Carolina kept coming.

UNC put more balls into the box and pressure on SU’s back line than before. Callahan had to block a shot by the back post and turned to the defenders, clenching his fists and yelling.

A few minutes later, on another “scrappy,” broken play in the box, UNC scored.

Defender Louis Cross headed a cross to UNC’s Alan Winn at the top of the box. Midfielder Juuso Pasanen slid to block the shot, but it ricocheted to forward Tucker Hume in front of the net, who scored.

Hilpert looked at the sideline and shrugged his shoulders.

“They’re a little bit fortunate that the ball squirmed to their forward,” McIntyre said.

The UNC barrage of attack kept up. Hilpert made a diving save to his left from a shot in close.

On the next possession, he desperately kept the ball out of the back of the net again. Hilpert charged out of it to make a save on Hume, blocking the rebound attempt while still on the ground scrambling to grab the loose ball.

But on the last shot of the game, all Hilpert could do watch it sail into the net. Olofson sidestepped Pasanen and fired “an absolute rocket” from 25 yards out into the right side of the net while running left.

Hilpert froze and turned his head to watch the ball find the top right corner.

“Unfortunately, we could’ve done with one more save from him tonight,” McIntyre said. “… We’re in a low spot right now, but we’ll bounce back.”

Published on October 10, 2015 at 10:45 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus