Alseth Powers 'Cuse Past Bucknell, 4-1

Tuesday, October 21

SU Soccer Stadium

7 p.m.

Syracuse University

13-2-0

Bucknell

6-9-0

Bucknell

Syracuse

10/21/2014 10:28:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Sophomore tallies career-high five points versus Bison

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Oyvind Alseth scored the first two goals of his career and contributed an assist to lead the No. 5 Orange (13-2-0) to a 4-1 victory against Bucknell (6-9-0) Tuesday, Oct. 21 at the SU Soccer Stadium. Alseth assisted on SU's second goal then scored twice in the span 7:26 in the second half to turn a one-goal game into a decisive three-goal victory.

The victory extended Syracuse's winning streak against non-conference opponents to 20 games and the Orange closed the non-league portion of the 2014 campaign with a perfect 9-0-0 record.

The offense came eary and often for the Orange. Just 47 seconds into the match, Chris Nanco intercepted an errant pass from Bucknell goalkeeper Mike Lansing just outside the box and fired the ball into the empty net to give Syracuse an early 1-0 advantage.

A little more than 21 minutes later, Alseth sent one of the 10 corner kicks the Orange was awarded in the first half into the scoring area. His serve connected with Emil Ekblom, who headed the ball just inside the post from seven yards out to extend the SU lead to 2-0. The goal was Ekblom's team-leading seventh of the season.

In the second half, the Bison gained some momentum by getting the ball deep into the attacking end with long runs down the sideline. Ben Derleth took advantage of the increased pressure in the 56th minute, creating a turnover at the top of the SU box. Derleth controlled the loose ball and fired a shot past Orange goalkeeper Alex Bono to trim the deficit to one.

Any hope of a Bucknell rally was short-lived. Less than two minues after Derleth's strike, Korab Syla and Julian Buescher completed a nifty give-and-go on the left sideline. The quick passing gave Syla enough space to cross the ball to Alseth in the box and he headed Syla's serve past Bucknell goalkeeper Clarke Fox, who came in to relieve Lansing late in the first half, for the first goal of his career.

Alseth wasn't finished. Less than eight minutes later, he found the back of the net again, finishing an Ekblom pass on a counterattack to close the game's scoring.

The Orange outshot Bucknell 12-8 and earned 11 corner kicks to four for the Bison.

Bono recorded three saves to pick up his 36th career victory, tying Chris Whitcomb (1985-88) for second on the school's all-time wins list. Bono is 36-15-2 in 53 career matches for the Orange.

Lansing made three saves and allowed two goals before being replaced by Fox in the 43rd minute. Fox finished with one save and two goals allowed in the final 47:10.

Syracuse travels to Raleigh, N.C. this weekend to take on North Carolina State in its penultimate regular-season match. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Dail Soccer Stadium.

Match Notes: Alseth's five points are the most by a Syracuse player in a match this season. Alseth played 32 career games without a goal before finding the net twice in less than eight minutes against Bison ... Syla's assist on SU's third goal represented his first career point ... Ekblom's first-half goal proved to be the game-winner. Six of sophomore's seven tallies this season have decided a match ... The Orange bounced back from last Friday's loss at Louisville and has outscored its opponents 17-3 in games following a loss since 2012.