Coming off a two-game winless stretch against a pair of top-five opponents, Syracuse (8-1-1, 2-1-1 Atlantic Coast) heads to Albany to take on the Great Danes (4-3-2, 0-0-1 America East) Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Orange battled No. 4 North Carolina to a scoreless draw after 110 minutes on Friday and travels east with only one goal to show in its last two games.

Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 7-1-1

Last time they played: Then-No. 22 Syracuse defeated Albany, 2-1, on Oct. 6 of last year. Chris Nanco capitalized on an Albany turnover in its own defensive third to put the Orange ahead in the 14th minute. The Great Danes equalized just before half when they converted on their only corner kick of the opening 45 minutes, using a Carlos Clark header to knot the score going into the break. Syracuse took the lead for good when Ben Polk scored one of his team-high 12 goals in the 78th minute, volleying home an assist from Julian Buescher.

The Albany report: The Great Danes have two common opponents with Syracuse, Massachusetts and Boston College. SU beat UMass, 3-0, and Albany beat the Minutemen, 2-1. UA lost to Boston College, 5-3, while SU handed the Eagles a 2-0 defeat.

Afonso Pinheiro leads the team with five goals, while six other players have found the back of the net this season. Pinheiro ranks tied for fifth in the America East in goals scored. Danny Vitiello is Albany’s primary goalkeeper, playing seven of the nine games this year. He has a goals-against average of 1.21, which ranks seventh among goalies in the conference.

How Syracuse beats Albany: The Great Danes give up a lot of goals — 15 on the season to be exact. Syracuse has only allowed six in fewer games played and the Orange is tied for the most goals scored in the ACC. On paper, SU should have no problem putting at least two in the back of the net and securing a comfortable win. The key will be Nanco. At times this season he’s struggled to convert on his chances, and he had no goals to show for six shots against the Tar Heels on Friday.

SU has one of the deepest offenses in the country’s best conference, but it’ll need one of its leading goal-scorers to start rounding into form if it wants to achieve the level of offensive prowess it’s capable of. Nanco will inevitably create chances for himself, either by getting under bigger defenders or just blowing by them. It’s the final touch, though, that hasn’t shown up and will need to do so if Syracuse is to win on Tuesday.

Stats to know:

1.67 – Albany ranks last in the America East with a 1.67 goals-against average

1 – Friday’s tie against UNC was the first time all season Syracuse hasn’t scored

11.4 – UA averages 11.4 shots per game, but SU is surrendering only 7.1 shots per game

Player to watch: Afonso Pinheiro, forward, No. 11

Pinheiro was the conference’s forward of the year in 2015 and a first-team All-America East selection. He has an assist to go along with five goals in eight games played. Pinheiro is only a junior, and set Albany’s single-season records with 11 goals and 26 points last season. Both of those totals led the conference in 2015.

Published on October 3, 2016 at 11:21 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman