Syracuse needed to settle down.

A Chris Nanco rebound led to a Sergio Camargo shot and rebound. The ball mixed around a scrum. From near the 18-yard box, Jonathan Hagman stepped up on the loose ball and drilled a 50th-minute goal to the right corner. The goal, which came on Syracuse’s second shot of the game, gave SU a lead it expanded on 24 minutes later.

A second-half surge led by Jonathan Hagman and Kenny Lassiter powered No. 5 Syracuse (7-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) to a 2-0 win over No. 15 Boston College (4-2, 1-1) in front of a packed crowd Friday night at SU Soccer Stadium.

With the victory, the Orange tied the program record for best start to a season set in 1984.

“That first goal kind of calmed us down a bit,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said.

Two hundred eighty-seven days after a Ben Polk header sent Syracuse past Boston College into the first national semifinal in program history, met the Eagles on the same field. In last December’s NCAA playoff matchup, the Orange redeemed itself after losing to the Eagles a month earlier in the regular season finale.

Since losing to BC in that first game last year, SU has won the 2015 ACC title, advanced to the College Cup and not lost a game (the two non-wins were ties decided on penalty kicks).

Alexis Escandon | Staff Photographer

On Friday, Hagman’s goal mirrored his game winner against St. John’s on Sept. 12 days earlier. And like he did against the Red Storm, Hagman sprinted toward the left corner after his goal.

“I was a little bit slow, I was jogging up and I thought they were going to score,” Hagman said of Friday’s goal. “But I got the chance.”

At the time of Hagman’s score, SU was struggling to find quality chances with just one prior shot.

This one opportunity sprouted from Nanco. Though he did not leave a mark in the box score, Nanco sucked defenders his way, creating space for others with his runs. He dragged a central defender wide, opening up spaces for his teammates.

Eventually outmatched offensively, Boston College successfully tried to slow the game down with fouls.

SU players said they grew frustrated in the first half, giving away too many balls, too many fouls and too much possession. So at halftime, McIntyre told his team to move the ball more.

“We needed better service in the box, we need to find some seams and also try to stretch them a little bit,” McIntyre said. “I thought we tried to play in front of Boston College a little too much.”

As the second half carried on, SU generated more chances. Midway through the second half, Nanco unloaded on a ball from near the box but shot it over the net. In the 74th minute, he tried bending a shot from the left side, but it missed to the right of the goal.

About a minute later, though, Nanco had possession again near the 18-yard box. He dribbled to his left, giving himself a tough angle to shoot or pass, but hit a pass through using the outside of his foot. Lassiter, who was right there in front of the net, stuck out his foot for the score.

After the slow start, the Orange still found ways to manufacture goals. It all started with Hagman, who now has half as many game-winners (two) as starts (four).

“It’s nice to have that play from Jonathan, who can attack that ball from deep,” midfielder Oyvind Alseth said. “It turned out to be the game-changer for us today.”

Published on September 16, 2016 at 9:16 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21