Orange Wins Mayor's Cup Title!

Sunday, September 7

Oneonta, NY

11 a.m.

Syracuse University

vs. Florida Gulf Coast

Syracuse won the 33rd Mayor's Cup with a 2-0-0 record.

9/7/2008 5:15:47 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Syracuse men’s soccer team (3-0-1) won the 33rd annual Mayor’s Cup on the strength of a 3-0 shutout of Florida Gulf Coast (1-2-1) Sunday, Sept. 7 at Hartwick’s Elmore Field. The Orange was the only squad to win both of its matches in the four-team tournament. In addition to beating the Eagles Sunday, the Orange defeated UNC-Wilmington, 1-0, Friday night.

Senior Kyle Hall (Toronto, Ontario) was presented with the Jim Lennox Award as tournament’s Offensive MVP. Hall tallied SU’s third goal Sunday, in addition to notching the game-winner Friday. Classmate Robert Cavicchia (North York, Ontario) was selected as the tournament’s Garth Stam Defensive MVP. Cavicchia played all 180 minutes during the weekend and recorded two shutouts.

The Orange defense smothered its second consecutive opponent Sunday, allowing just two shots against Florida Gulf Coast after giving up only seven to UNC-Wilmington in its opening game.

“We go into every match thinking that if we defend well, eventually, we’ll get a goal,” SU head coach Dean Foti said. “We’re doing a good job of putting pressure on the opposing team and that makes it tougher to move the ball and get shots off.”

Offensively, Syracuse’s balanced attack was too much for the Eagles to handle as the Orange got three goals from three different players in the second half, including two in the span of 1:09. Junior forward Tom Perevegyencev (Budapest, Hungary) opened the scoring with his team-leading fourth goal of the year in the 60th minute. Classmate Hansen Woodruff (Stuart, Fla.) followed with a tally at the 74:18 mark to put the Orange in front by two, and Hall put the finishing touches on the victory with an unassisted score 69 seconds later.

“The balance was good today,” Foti said of SU’s scoring. “We hope to have that so opponents can’t lock down on one guy. Being able to spread it around makes a huge difference, especially in BIG EAST play.”

Syracuse dominated the statistics Sunday, outshooting Florida Gulf Coast, 16-2. Jonathan Koshko and Patrick Biggs were the only players to generate an offensive chance for the Eagles. The Orange also recorded five corner kicks to two for Florida Gulf Coast.

Syracuse returns home on Thursday, Sept. 11 for a non-conference tilt with Monmouth. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at the SU Soccer Stadium. Admission and parking for the match is complimentary.

Match Notes: It was the first Mayor’s Cup title for the Orange in two appearances in the tournament … The Orange has never lost a match at the event, going 2-0-0 in 2008 and 1-0-1 in 2007 … The victory extended the Orange’s non-conference unbeaten streak to 18 games (11-0-7) dating back to 2005 … Perevegyencev’s four goals already equals his 2007 season total achieved in 17 matches … Sophomore Justin Arena (Potomac, Md.) and rookie Raoul Meister (Sprockhoevel, Germany) each registered their second assists of year Sunday … They are tied with sophomore Geoff Lytle (Miami Beach, Fla.) for the team lead.