Ryan Hickey strolled toward the locker room Wednesday night and sang a rousing chorus of ‘We Are the Champions.’ He hugged his teammates.

Was it jubilation or just relief? It didn’t matter for Syracuse.

The Syracuse men’s soccer team finally won a game, and for Hickey and his teammates, it was a reason to celebrate. After seven straight losses and a season hanging off the edge of a cliff, the Orange won, 2-0, against Rutgers at Syracuse Soccer Stadium on Wednesday.

‘It feels good,’ junior forward Jeff Evans said. ‘Not only to get a win, but to get it by two goals. It can’t be considered just a lucky win.’

Nobody will consider Wednesday’s win lucky. Syracuse (3-10, 1-5 Big East) thoroughly outplayed Rutgers (5-7-3, 2-4-2) and, for once this year, came away with goals to show for it.

The Orange didn’t have to make excuses for missing opportunities and squandering goals. Instead, its two goals gave Syracuse a surprising cushion and its first home victory.

Evans scored in the 26th minute to give Syracuse a 1-0 advantage. Junior Mike McCallion started the play in the left corner with a pretty feed to Alejandro Nuno, who was positioned right outside the box. Nuno deflected the ball to Evans, who beat one defender and then fired the ball into the right corner of the net.

Syracuse added to its lead in the second half off a rebound. Redshirt freshman Isaac Collings took a hard shot on net and the rebound bounced perfectly to freshman Brad Peetoom, who scored his second goal of the season.

‘It feels awesome,’ Peetoom said. ‘Every game’s been so close. To finally get this win under our belt, it’s really nice.’

It was the first multiple-goal lead Syracuse had all year. Despite a late push by Rutgers, the Orange held on for Alim Karim’s first shutout of the season. Syracuse blanked Oneonta, 1-0, on Sept. 14 for its other shutout this year, but Rich Scheer started in net.

Evans said at halftime the players discussed scoring an insurance goal.

‘We had a little cushion,’ Evans said. ‘We haven’t had a two-goal lead all year.’

It was the first game Syracuse has played this year that wasn’t decided by one goal. Dating back to last season, Syracuse had played in 14 straight one-goal games.

But the second goal allowed the Orange to play with extra confidence and let its defense close out a game.

‘It’s huge to get that second goal,’ Karim said. ‘It motivates the team. You have a little bit of a cushion, so if you do have a little bit of a slip up, you’re OK.’

Syracuse has a five-game unbeaten streak against the Scarlet Knights, going 4-0-1. More importantly, the win Wednesday night gave Syracuse its first league win of the season and sent Rutgers further down the Big East totem pole.

‘We just came out fired up,’ Karim said. ‘Our season’s on the line. One loss, and we’re going to be out of the tournament. Today, we were motivated. Everyone was feeling the win. We executed and played great.’

Published on October 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm