SYRACUSE, N.Y. — For 87 minutes, Syracuse Women’s Soccer kept Miami from taking the lead. Then the Hurricanes made landfall when it mattered most.
With the game tied 1-1, Miami’s Kambryl Armstrong broke behind the Syracuse back line and raced toward goal.
She slipped a shot past an advancing Maya Naimoli with 2:39 remaining Thursday night at SU Soccer Stadium, giving the Hurricanes a 2-1 win and handing the Orange its fifth straight loss.
Syracuse now sits at 4-10-2 and 1-8 in the ACC. The team has now lost eight of its last nine games and will miss the postseason for the 14th consecutive season.
The Orange had given themselves an early opportunity to pull off another win against the Hurricanes.
In the 14th minute, sophomore forward Ali Howard drew a foul from Miami’s Amanda Peck inside the penalty area, giving Syracuse a chance from the spot.
After video review upheld the call, junior midfielder Gabby Wisbeck stepped forward. She waited for Miami goalkeeper Atlee Olofson to commit before drilling the penalty kick into the center of the net for a 1-0 Syracuse lead.
It was Wisbeck’s first goal of the season and just the second of her career. Syracuse carried that advantage into halftime despite being outshot 13-3 by the Hurricanes.
But the Orange lost more than its lead quickly into the second half.
Wisbeck went down with a left leg injury 11 seconds after the restart following a collision with Miami’s Teegan Melenhorst. She couldn’t leave the field under her own power and eventually needed crutches to get off the pitch.
She did not return.
Wisbeck’s absence left a noticeable hole in Syracuse’s midfield.
The junior regularly dropped back to help shield the back line and protect the penalty area when Miami pushed forward. Without her, the Orange struggled to maintain its defensive shape and close the gaps in the middle of the field.
“She would have helped tremendously in the second phase, and that’s something we missed in the second half without her,” head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams said.
Miami needed just seven minutes to capitalize.
Armstrong carried the ball forward and found Madelynn Sadusky inside the penalty area.
Sadusky turned away from pressure and lifted a shot into the left corner to even the score at 1-1 in the 53rd minute.
From there, the Hurricanes continued to test Naimoli.
The redshirt junior finished with eight saves, matching her season high, including five after halftime. She entered Thursday leading the ACC with 59 saves and repeatedly kept Miami from finding a second goal.
Miami finished with a 23-7 advantage in shots and put 10 attempts on target. Syracuse managed just three shots on goal and struggled to sustain possession in the attacking third.
Naimoli’s saves kept the Orange level long enough to give them a chance at a draw.
Miami missed a penalty kick just one minute before Armstrong’s eventual winner, offering Syracuse another opportunity to escape with a point.
But the Orange couldn’t take advantage. Armstrong’s late breakaway left Naimoli with little help and ultimately decided the game.
“I’m proud of the girls’ intensity and fight,” Adams said. “Bummer, last three minutes of the game.”
Syracuse has one game remaining on its schedule, hosting California on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at SU Soccer Stadium.