It hasn’t been often that Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre has had the luxury of going deep into his bench to give substitutes minutes.

Ten of the Orange’s 15 games have been decided by one goal, so McIntyre has opted to keep his starters on the field for the majority of the game. If the likes of Noah Rhynhart or Chris Makowski see the field, it’s rarely for any significant length of time.

In No. 5 Syracuse’s (13-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) 4-1 win over Bucknell (6-9, 2-3 Patriot) at SU Soccer Stadium on Tuesday night, the Orange’s firm grip on the game allowed McIntyre to give extended minutes to some players that mainly see action on the practice field. Freshman Danny Apajee tripled his total minutes for the season, as Rhynhart played a full half and Makowski logged about 17 minutes.

“We talk before the game about the guys standing here in front of you get all the credit sometimes when it’s the guys that are working tirelessly day in and day out in practice,” McIntyre said. “To give some of those guys some minutes tonight was important.”

Last year, Rhynhart was the first option off the bench along with Grant Chong, but is now the third or fourth with freshman Julian Buescher starting and redshirt junior Tyler Hilliard back to full health.

He has played in 13 of SU’s 15 games, but Rhynhart has only tallied a goal and an assist in limited chunks of minutes. On Tuesday, he almost scored his second goal in three games when a turnaround shot with his left foot was destined for the bottom-left corner until Bisons goalie Clarke Fox tipped it just wide of the post.

Apajee, a freshman, saw the field for only the second time this year, and the first since the season opener against Niagara. He too had a goal-scoring opportunity inside the box and although he was unable to convert it, he was pleased that McIntyre trusted him on the pitch for two separate stretches of play.

“(I’ve been) working hard in practice and then Halis got the red card this weekend and I thought it was my chance,” Apajee said. “It’s good because I’m a freshman too, good for coach to be able to trust me.”

For Makowski, who won team MVP his sophomore year and was a co-captain as a junior, minutes have been hard to come by with increased competition. He played the entire second half last Tuesday against UConn with Oyvind Alseth injured and turned in a “warrior-like performance,” as McIntyre called it.

Against Bucknell, the senior played the latter half of the second frame and repeatedly rose up to win headers and distributed with perfection on all his passes, providing a viable option at left wing.

For the three, along with Trevor Alexander, who saw a couple minutes toward the end, getting in-game experience in regular-season blowouts could prove vital if called on in postseason play.

“The experience is good for them and they absolutely deserve it,” Alseth said. “Those guys getting some minutes and having a great game is good for the group.”

Published on October 21, 2014 at 11:23 pm

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