Byline: Nolan Weidner Staff writer
The match was a draw, but the Syracuse Salty Dogs took Wednesday's 1-1 tie with the Atlanta Silverbacks like a loss.
'We had a win, and we lost it,' said midfielder Jack Jewsbury, who scored the lone goal for the Salty Dogs on a warm night at Liverpool High School stadium. The Dogs are now 8-9-3 with their playoff hopes fading fast.
Jewsbury's first-half goal, from 22 yards out off an assist from Ryan Mack, was one of a handful of great scoring chances the Dogs had in the first 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the score in the 31st minute was the only one that found the back of the Silverbacks' net.
Atlanta, now 3-13-5, came into town with the second-worst mark in A-League soccer. But the Silverbacks survived Syracuse's first-half domination and put together enough offense to generate the tying goal in the 66th minute.
Shaker Asad scored on a one-touch volley from about 12 yards out.
The teams played two 10-minute overtime periods without scoring after the 90 minutes of regulation.
'It should have been 3-0 at the half,' said a disappointed Salty Dogs coach Laurie Calloway. 'It's a game we should have won.'
The Syracuse defense had a different look, as the Salty Dogs were without regular starters Bennito Kemble and Judah Cooks. Kemble, the team captain, is out with a leg injury, while Cooks was released by Syracuse on Wednesday.
With Kemble and Cooks out, the Salty Dogs went with Rene Rivas and Pablo Gentile inside and Mike Kirmse and Lars Lyssand on the outside.
Team officials and Calloway were brief in their comments about Cooks, who played in 16 of the Dogs' 19 games before Wednesday. Calloway said the defender was released because of personal issues, and a concern over team chemistry. He said Cooks didn't fit into the team's future plans.
Syracuse came out hot, and midfielder Noah Delgado nearly scored in the game's sixth minute when his shot, off a rebound of an Adauto Neto shot, beat Atlanta goalkeeper Bryheem Hancock and struck the crossbar.
After Jewsbury put Syracuse ahead, Neto nearly made it 2-0 in the 40th minute with a nice juke move past an Atlanta defender and a little touch shot from 10 yards that struck the left goalpost. Several minutes later, Neto broke into the Atlanta end again and made a crisp crossing pass to Jewsbury, whose blast from about 20 yards out was stopped on a nice save by Hancock.
The Salty Dogs kept pressing the attack in the second 45 minutes, but Atlanta seemed to find its legs a little.
After Asad beat Dogs goalkeeper Paul Nagy, the Silverbacks created several more chances to score, mostly on counter-attacks, but Nagy came up with several big saves of his own to preserve the draw.
'My team did well in the second half,' said Atlanta coach Jacenir Silva, whose team endured a four-hour delay at the Atlanta airport Wednesday on its way to Syracuse. 'That's a good game. We needed this.'
Calloway was as downcast as Silva was upbeat.
'The chances we squandered,' he said. 'We didn't create a lot in the second half. None of my subs came in and made a real difference, except Ryan Hall.'
Calloway brought speedy forward Machel Millwood, midfielders Tony Medina and Shawn Tsakiris, and forward Chay Bardales into the match during the second half, but they failed to generate the same kind of chances the Salty Dogs had in the first.
'They bunkered in really well and just picked their spots,' Bardales said of Atlanta's play in the second half. 'It was a little frustrating.'
Instead of three points for a win, Syracuse and Atlanta each get one for the draw. That, Calloway said, is no good when your team is chasing four teams in front in the Northeast Division standings.
'It's two points lost, not a one-point gain,' he said.
The Salty Dogs are back at Liverpool on Friday night against divisional rival Pittsburgh. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Syracuse 1, Atlanta 1
Atlanta*****0-1-0-0 - 1
Syracuse 1-0-0-0 - 1
Scoring: Syracuse (31st) Jewsbury, from Mack, Atlanta (66th) Asad; Shots: Syracuse 12, Atlanta 7; Saves: Syracuse (Nagy) 3, Atlanta (Hancock) 5; Fouls: Syracuse 21, Atlanta 23; Offsides: Syracuse 2, Atlanta 9; Corner kicks: Syracuse 4, Atlanta 3; Cautions (yellow cards): Atlanta 3 - Woods (57th), Parra (59th), M'Bemba (108th), Syracuse 2 - Jewsbury (70th), Medina (94th); Attendance: 3,906.
