<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0Lkz49_1H2dQ2Yo00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0Lkz49_1H2dQ2Yo00" width="810" height="540" ><figcaption>Despite Syracuse's ACC Championship semifinal loss to No. 1 SMU, head coach Ian McIntyre thinks his team will play in the NCAA Tournament next week. Courtesy of Jaylynn Nash</figcaption></figure>Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter here.Minutes after a 3-0 defeat to No. 1 SMU in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Semifinals on Thursday, Syracuse men’s soccer head coach Ian McIntyre was cautious about whether the Orange had played their way into the NCAA Tournament. “Yeah, I think so.”He then paused for barely a second and doubled down. “The answer’s yes.”Another chance to play in Cary, North Carolina, never seemed likely before the ACC Championship actually began. McIntyre’s side entered with its lowest-ever seed in the tournament and with just one ACC victory all season. However, in the last week alone, the Orange won more conference matches than they did the entire regular season. Even though they were outmatched by the undefeated Mustangs (14-0-3, 6-0-2 ACC), who scored right before halftime and then twice early in the second to effectively kill the match, SU (8-8-3, 1-5-2 ACC) still found a way back to WakeMed Soccer Park to play in the semifinal for the fourth time in five years. Come the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Monday at 1 p.m., Syracuse certainly isn’t a shoo-in for its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance under McIntyre in 17 years. Yet, its high Rating Percentage Index ranking, strength of schedule and now its postseason run might be enough to secure one of 25 at-large bids. “The league table never lies and that’s accurate,” McIntyre said. “So we were the 13th team in the best conference in college soccer. But also, I think you got to give credit for teams that find their way into these moments and being here in the Final Four.”SU didn’t reach the semifinals through brilliant back-to-front soccer. SMU head coach Kevin Hudson said afterward he was most worried about Syracuse getting through it with direct play and second balls off that. “Syracuse is very effective. They have a way to play,” Hudson said. “It is difficult to play against.”Instead, Syracuse relied on its sturdiness as a group and lived off quality moments from some of its players to stay together another week. At then-No. 20 Pitt on Nov. 4, the Orange’s top goalscorer Bryson Rodriguez expertly turned in Sachiel Ming’s cross for his third goal in as many matches. SU then defended diligently while maintaining a threat to the Panthers, who equalized late.After two 10-minute overtime periods, it went to sudden-death penalty kicks for the first time since 2023. Midfield staple Kristjan Fortier saw his penalty saved, then somehow saw it spin back in. Players who haven’t heavily featured for McIntyre this season, such as Kameron Kist, Gabriel Oksanen and Dakota Jonke, stepped up and converted. By the skin of its teeth, Syracuse was moving on. “We had a very interesting month before this; we had our backs against the wall,” Jonke said. “It was do or die. We took the route of do.”Four days later in Palo Alto, neither SU nor Stanford played free-flowing soccer and, as a result, canceled each other out. So, McIntyre, like he has all season, turned to his attacking depth on the bench for a spark. Especially toward the later stages of the season, that approach has been fruitful for a side that hadn’t scored more than once in a match since mid-September. Jordan Grey was a decisive factor in SU’s opening matches, but his prowess up top largely diminished as the season progressed. Yet with less than five minutes left, a smile spread across his face as he ran toward the camera and gave it a smooch after a scrappy corner goal. A minute later, Stanford’s Jack Pymm hammered the ball past Juan Martinez-Bastidas to force another overtime. Syracuse players put their hands on their hips and looked down at the ground, devastated, as another match they led slipped away in the dying embers. But an out-of-form Grey, marshaled by four Stanford defenders, drove past all and slotted the ball into the bottom corner in the second overtime period to send SU back to Cary. “I’m just happy I could keep the season alive,” Grey said.McIntyre conceded that this time last year, his squad had regrets about its ACC Championship Semifinal match against SMU. A 5-1 loss brought about a sour end to its superb late-season stretch. But after losing 3-0 on Thursday, McIntyre said there were no regrets. He did say there were tears in the locker room and there would be on the ensuing bus ride back to Syracuse. But after a week of traveling from place to place to keep its season alive, he hopes it was enough for Syracuse to play at least one more match. “Our guys left it on the field tonight, and I hope we have an opportunity to play on Thursday because I do think we deserve that,” McIntyre said. Published on November 13, 2026 at 2:06 amContact Quinn: [email protected] | @quinnpostman_</div></body>

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Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Minutes after a 3-0 defeat to No. 1 SMU in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Semifinals on Thursday, Syracuse men’s soccer head coach Ian McIntyre was cautious about whether the Orange had played their way into the NCAA Tournament.

Despite ACC Championship exit, McIntyre confident SU makes NCAA Tournament

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Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Minutes after a 3-0 defeat to No. 1 SMU in the Atlantic Coast

Despite ACC Championship exit, McIntyre confident SU makes NCAA Tournament

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