Day 13 at Syracuse, New York
Syracuse 2, Virginia Beach 1
Second-half substitute Gabe Valencia put in a full volley off a Noah Delgado cross in the 82nd minute for the winning goal as the Syracuse Salty Dogs rallied for a 2-1 win at P&C Stadium in Syracuse. Jakob Fenger scored the Mariners' only goal in the 21st minute, while Lars Lyssand had the game-tying goal in the 75th minute.
For much of the first half, the Salty Dogs would be in control of the ball, and just two minutes into the match, they had their first good scoring chance when Tommy Tanner's run down the left side and into the box forced a reaction save by Virginia Beach goalkeeper Joe Larson. Two minutes later, a Syracuse free kick from 20 yards out was right at Larson for the easy save, and in the 10th minute Isais Bardales had two good chances, first on a run into the box that he hit just wide right, then on a header off a free kick that was also just barely wide right. Bardales had another good chance in the 17th minute on a shot across the box that forced a diving save from Larson.
It wasn't until the 21st minute that the Mariners had their first good chance at goal, but they made that first chance count when a pass from Roland Aguilera to Jakob Fenger beat an attempted offside trap, and Fenger was in alone, and slipped the ball under a charging Paul Nagy to put the Mariners up 1-0 (See picture #4 below).
The Salty Dogs didn't get a good chance to pull that goal back until the 35th minute, when Lars Lyssand had a good look at a cross when just 10 yards out, but his attempted header was just over the bar. In the 37th minute, the Mariners nearly widened their lead when a lob by Roy Lassiter tipped just off the top of the crossbar. In the 38th minute, Bardales was again threatening the Mariners goal, but his shot from just 10 yards out was wide right as he charged into the box down the right side. At half, the Mariners held a 1-0 lead.
In the 52nd minute, the Mariners nearly doubled their lead when Dante Washington made a run deep into the Syracuse box, but his shot was stopped by a reaction save from Nagy. Two minutes later, Syracuse had a golden opportunity to equalize when they were awarded an indirect kick 12 yards out from goal, inside the Virginia Beach box. But the shot attempt by Valencia was saved by a charging Larson.
In the 58th minute, the Salty Dogs had another great chance when Adauto Neto's shot from 15 yards out was tipped barely over the bar by Larson.
Video clip of Lars Lyssand's goal for Syracuse which leveled the score at 1-1
Video clip of Gabe Valencia's game-winning goal
The Salty Dogs began to press forward more, looking for the equalizer, and they got it in the 75th minute off a Shaun Tsakiris free kick. The ball was headed towards net by a diving Rene Rivas, and then apparently tapped into the net by Lyssand, who was sitting at the far post. (See the video link #1 above, but I missed the end of the play due to bad camerawork.) The Mariners claimed Lyssand was offside, but the goal stood, and the Salty Dogs had leveled the score at 1-1.
One minute later, the Salty Dogs nearly took the lead when a shot from near the top of the box by Tsakiris required a diving save by Larson to tip it wide. But in the 85th minute, Syracuse got their go ahead goal when Noah Delgado made a run down the left side, and played a perfect cross into the run of Valencia, who full volleyed the shot past Larson from just four yards out to put the home side up 2-1 (See video link #2 above).
Virginia Beach would get their chances to level the score late, with the best chances being in the 90th minute when Carl Bussey attemped a one-timer from 12 yards out when he probably had time to trap and shoot, and then in the last minute of stoppage time when Jeff Moore had a shot from 20 yards out that was right at Nagy. But the Mariners couldn't bring the score level again, and the Salty Dogs held on for the 2-1 come-from-behind victory.
