It was happening again. The minutes ticked down on the scoreboard. Chances slipped by. Steam rose off the players as the temperature crept lower. And then the whistle blew.

After 90 minutes of soccer, Syracuse was tied.

So for the seventh time in 11 games so far this season, the Orange headed to overtime. Once again, SU was unable to close out a game in regular time, but SU was also unwilling to accept a loss before the final whistle.

‘I think we worked extremely hard, and we had a clean sheet tonight,’ head coach Ian McIntyre said. ‘But ultimately, we score a goal, and it doesn’t go into overtime. So maybe an inability to kill a team off, but also a doggedness and a real willingness to grind out results.’

Syracuse controlled play for the majority of Saturday’s game against the struggling DePaul. SU had 17 shots in regular time, yet none managed to find the net. So for the fifth time in the last six games, Syracuse was faced with overtime. Despite having so much experience playing longer games, the extra 20 minutes ended scoreless, resulting in a 0-0 tie and one point in the Big East standings.

It has come to the point for this SU team that overtime is just what happens. With more overtime games than any other team in the Big East, midfielder Nick Roydhouse said the team was ‘confident’ when the game was extended.

‘We’ve played a lot of overtime games,’ he said. ‘We kind of know what’s going on now. We know how to play it. I think we dominate overtime, just due to our experience. Just a little tweak, and we’ll win that game.’

Syracuse had a few close opportunities in the extra period, including a goal by freshman Brett Jankouskas, with two minutes left in the second overtime that was called back because the official ruled him offside. There was a sense of urgency on the field before and after the offside call, despite the frigid weather and the extended game.

Jankouskas said because the team has mostly played games over 90 minutes long, endurance is less of an issue going into overtime.

‘We don’t really get tired anymore, we’re just kind of used to it,’ Jankouskas said. ‘It’s almost like it’s a part of the game now. I feel like we’ve been in more overtimes than in actual regulation games, so it’s not a big deal.’

But despite the confidence and the conditioning that have come with such frequent overtime games, SU has only managed to score twice, both times on free kicks. The first came against Northeastern to win 1-0. The second was more recent. In Wednesday’s game versus Colgate, the Orange scored on a direct kick from 20 yards out, winning 3-2.

Now the team needs to either find a way to convert chances into goals or to get fouled close to the box to end these overtimes in its favor. Forward Fredrik Forsman said it’s a matter of sustaining an attack, which can either lead to a goal on its own or to a free kick.

‘The free kick comes when we try to attack them, I think,’ Forsman said. ‘We get pressure on them, and then we get free kicks. We’re good at free kicks.’

Yet in the end, dealing with overtime would not be an issue if the team is able to get a lead during the first 90 minutes. The Orange has only had one lead this year. SU was up 2-0, then let Colgate come back to tie the game with just five more minutes to play.

Instead of focusing energy on finishing in overtime, Jankouskas said the key is to end the game before overtime even comes into the picture. He summed up the solution simply.

Said Jankouskas: ‘Just score in regular time.’

alguggen@syr.edu