It took Bucknell 57 minutes to do what Syracuse did in less than a minute.

SU midfielder Chris Nanco scored just seconds into Tuesday night’s match against the Bison at SU Soccer Stadium and other than one second-half defensive lapse, No. 5 Syracuse (13-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) dictated play from start to finish, handing the Bison (6-9, 2-3 Patriot) a 4-1 defeat.

“It’s always nice in the attacking third to get it down and move the ball,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “We created a lot of chances and scored some good goals.”

McIntyre said the field was slick, almost a bit heavy, from the hour-long rain shower that ended moments before kickoff.  During the Orange’s long-distance passing drill in warmups, numerous passes sailed high and skipped by their target. Midfielder Julian Buescher returned one pass meant for Juuso Pasanen that sent reserve goalkeeper Matt Stith ducking.

But SU players used the conditions to their advantage as it accelerated their passes and quickened the pace of the game. In the early moments, the wet surface proved costly for the visitors.

Nanco and Emil Ekblom pressured Bison goalkeeper Mike Lansing’s first touch and the junior whiffed on an attempted outlet pass. The speedy Nanco, who positioned himself to cut off Bucknell’s outside back, jumped on the loose ball and one-touched a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

“We couldn’t have started the game better,” Ekblom said.

Nanco’s strike — his fifth goal of the season — was the first of 12 shots for the Orange, eight of which were on goal.

In the 13th minute, Nanco slid a pass into the middle of the 18-yard box for Ekblom, who sent a shot toward the right corner of the net. Lansing dove across, sprawling out for his best save of the match and leaving SU’s leading scorer shaking his head.

But Ekblom’s elusiveness and combination passes with Nanco highlighted an overall solid night, as the sophomore finished with a team-high four shots on goal.

In the 22nd minute, winger Oyvind Alseth lined up for one of SU’s 10 corner kicks of the first half. The sophomore placed a pass onto the head of Ekblom, who redirected it by Lansing to give the Orange a 2-0 lead.

In the 40th minute, SU forward Noah Rhynhart took a shot from the right side of the 18-yard box that Lansing dove across the cage to prevent from going in. Moments later, Ekblom and Alseth connected on a backheel give-and-go, but Ekblom’s shot was blocked by a defender.

“We started off, moved the ball around, they couldn’t really catch us,” Ekblom said. “The first half was very good. We created some good chances, had some good plays and kept possession.”

Syracuse was mere feet away from extending its lead to 3-0 minutes before halftime. Off an Alseth corner kick, Lansing turned around and punched the ball off his own crossbar and over the net. Minutes later, the Bison keeper was replaced by Clarke Fox.

Though the visitors scored to cut the lead in half 11 minutes into the second half. Three minutes later SU scored again.

An unlikely hero, Alseth, scored the first goal of his SU career in the 58th minute to extend the lead to 3-1. The defender-turned-midfielder scored again eight minutes later, putting the game out of reach. Syracuse’s cushion allowed McIntyre to play five reserves off the bench.

SU’s victory marks the 20th consecutive in nonconference play and caps an undefeated nonconference schedule this season.

It was a victory that stemmed from two likely sources, its leading goal scorers Nanco and Ekblom, and one unlikely source, Alseth.

“We were pressing them a lot up top and they were making mistakes,” Nanco said. “We were getting the ball closer to the net. It’s much easier to score goals when you’re closer to the net.”

Published on October 21, 2014 at 11:16 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu