The lines to buy tickets into SU Soccer Stadium stretched through the parking lot and nearly to Manley Field House. Any seating available in the bleachers filled up well before kickoff and fans were sent to the hill in front of East Colvin Street to watch the game.

The aftermath was a scene of trash, torn up grass and mud on the hill as a record 2,533 fans watched Syracuse beat Duke and advance to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals on a chilly 45-degree day in early November. It topped the previous record of 2,442 set just two months earlier against then-No. 4 Notre Dame.

“Best atmosphere ever,” senior midfielder Juuso Pasanen said. “I love when the hill gets packed, oh my goodness. It feels good every time.”

Five times during the best-ever season for the Orange, the number of fans exceeded the seating capacity of SU Soccer Stadium, turning the trampled hill into a common occurrence.

But despite being one of the top teams in the ACC last season and in the top half in average attendance, Syracuse has the third-smallest venue with a maximum seating capacity of 1,500 fans.  With the support of the team growing and new attendance records being set, fans are pushing the venue to its limit.

“As the program grows that crowd keeps coming out,” junior forward Chris Nanco said.  “… We love the support.”

During head coach Ian McIntyre’s first season in 2010, SU won only two games and attracted just 839 fans per home contest. Nanco recalls not seeing as much support for the team on his recruiting visit to Syracuse as there is now.

Last year, an average of 1,424 fans attended each home game, watching Syracuse reach No. 1 in the country. The Manley South parking lot consistently overflowed with cars and students packed busses heading from Main Campus to the soccer field.

The Orange’s average attendance filled 94.9 percent of its stadium capacity — the sixth-highest percentage in all of Division-I soccer. Louisville, the closest ACC school on that list, satisfied just 67.4 percent of its capacity.

SU’s five times surpassing the seating capacity of the field accounted for nearly half of its home games. Only two other schools in the ACC — Boston College and Louisville — broke their seating max more than once.

“When we’ve played well and had a good atmosphere our stadium has been cooking,” McIntyre said. “It’s not just a soccer match, it’s an event.”

The only two schools in the ACC with smaller stadiums — Boston College and Pittsburgh — were the worst teams in the conference, combining for just one ACC win. Boston College’s venue fits 1,000 fans while Pittsburgh’s holds 735.

On the other end, Clemson’s 28-year-old venue boasts a 6,500-person capacity and recently underwent renovations. Louisville unveiled an $18.5 million soccer complex in 2014 that fits over 5,300 and Pasanen called “amazing.”

“Those stadiums are always tough to play in when the other team has that many fans in the crowd,” Nanco said.

SU Soccer Stadium, which opened in 1996, pales in comparison to the size of fields of the other top teams around the conference.

Nanco and Pasanen said they like SU Soccer Stadium’s compact layout and the ability for fans to stand or sit practically on the field. It creates a feeling of togetherness, Nanco added, while Pasanen said he doesn’t want to see seats go up on the hill.

If the popularity of the team and attendance continue to climb each year, the stadium will continuously reach its max capacity and may force fans to watch games from beyond the fences around the stadium.

McIntyre doesn’t know whether or not fans would fill a 5,000-person stadium and said any changes to the soccer facilities aren’t his decision to make. Though there are nice stadiums around the country, he said, he wouldn’t swap out SU Soccer Stadium for another.

“You want a facility where on certain occasions you have it packed to the rafters and we’ve been able to do that the last couple years,” McIntyre said. “… We’ve got to ensure that we keep playing well and keep bringing people back and if there becomes a problem then that becomes a good problem to have.”

Published on August 31, 2015 at 7:56 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus