Jordan Vale was inches away from poking the game-tying goal away from Rafael Diaz. But with the ball in the firm clutches of the St. John’s goalkeeper, Syracuse’s season finale couldn’t be salvaged by Vale’s desperate attempts.

Vale put his hands on his hips as the referee blew the whistle behind him. A last-ditch shot in the 90th-minute off a deflected lob was saved by Diaz, meaning the Orange (12-5, 5-3 Big East) had lost its regular-season finale 1-0 to St. John’s (10-3-4, 4-3-1) on Friday night at Belson Stadium.

The No. 18 Red Storm needed all 90 minutes to best the Orange at home, though. SJU was held scoreless in the first half despite outshooting Syracuse, 6-0. And when the two teams resumed play in the second half, it was SU, not SJU, which played the role of the aggressor.

The Orange held a 6-1 second half shot advantage when SJU’s Danny Bedoya found Brandon Sevino in the 79th minute.

On the Syracuse end line, Bedoya saved a long pass with a flying, mid-air kick that sent the ball over his right shoulder. It landed back in the Syracuse box and at the feet of the freshman Sevino, who notched his first career goal with a left-footed, near-post instep shot that rolled by diving SU goalkeeper Alex Bono.

Bono, whose aggressive play in goal had kept SU in the game all night, pounded the ground with his fist in anger.

That same margin prevented a last-minute Syracuse score before the final whistle 11 minutes later. A Red Storm defender deflected SU’s lob to the box, sending Diaz scrambling. He secured the ball just inches away from Vale and a bevy of waiting Syracuse players.

Vale tried in vain to pry the ball away from Diaz’s grip, and the Orange’s three-game winning streak was over.

 

Published on October 27, 2012 at 10:00 am

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