Massimo Ferrin wasn’t 100% healthy, but he could take a penalty kick. He grabbed the ball to begin Syracuse’s penalty shootout against North Carolina on Tuesday, calmly swinging his right foot through the ball and powering it into the goal opposite the diving goalkeeper.

As he scored, Ferrin winced and grabbed his back. He was in pain, and had been the entire game — all 47 minutes of playing time.

“He got whacked on his back and I think it’s just stiffening up,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said Tuesday night. “Hopefully, in the next few days, we can start getting him back out there.”

In the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament first round game, Ferrin wasn’t the usual contributor he’s been for the Orange this season, registering just one shot. But when Syracuse needed him most, Ferrin put Syracuse in front of its penalty shootout and helped the Orange advance to the second round of the tournament.

Syracuse will face No. 2-seed Virginia in Charlottesville on Sunday at 1 p.m., and Ferrin’s ongoing injury leaves the Orange with multiple questions — like which formation it’ll set up in and who will replace him — against the nation’s No. 4 overall team.

Ferrin played in the midfield or on the wing for the bulk of Tuesday’s game. He couldn’t run in behind or connect play for the Orange’s offense like he usually does from up top in his typical striker role. Syracuse’s second-leading goal scorer was shunted into a less attacking role with his limited mobility, playing more as a deep-lying passer who frequently drifted out to the wing.

“He’s going to need a little bit of time,” McIntyre said. “He battled through it tonight. He gave us as much as he could.”

On Nov. 1, Ferrin left the Orange’s regular season finale against Boston College in the sixth minute with an injury and never returned. Syracuse scored its lone goal off a set piece and failed to generate much offense in the second half without his presence in a 2-1 loss.

Without his second striker alongside Ryan Raposo on Tuesday, McIntyre turned to freshman forward Luther Archimede, who’s had an up-and-down rookie campaignfor the Orange.

“Any international player goes through an adaptation period,” McIntyre said. “I think his best soccer is ahead of him, and he’s getting used to the speed of play and physicality.”

Archimede’s ability to hold up play while the Orange played a more conservative formation impressed McIntyre on Tuesday. But Archimede hasn’t proven this season that he can stay on the pitch and play big minutes because of ill-advised fouls.

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The freshman has been sent off twice and suspended for two more matches. Until recently, Archimede’s primary role was to come off the bench to spell Ferrin or Raposo at the end of the first half, before then coming on for more extensive minutes in the second half if the Orange was chasing goals.

“That was probably Luther’s best game in a Syracuse shirt,” McIntyre said. “He was isolated, but he was strong, he was physical. He held the ball up really well. He bullied their center back, and I thought he was terrific.”

While Raposo and Ferrin have provided 15 goals for the Orange this season, the search for a third attacking option has come down to Archimede and Severin Soerlie. Archimede has seen his minutes increase, while Soerlie didn’t play at all in the Orange’s first postseason match. Soerlie did come on to take and score a penalty on Tuesday.

The Orange will have defender Nyal Higgins back from suspension on Sunday after his red card against BC last Saturday kept him out of Tuesday’s match. To counter Higgins’ suspension and Ferrin’s injury, McIntyre strayed away from his traditional three center backs with two high pressing wing backs on Tuesday. He switched to a back four and played an extra player in the midfield, Noah Singelmann, who started in the center of the midfield to try to keep the UNC attack under control.

When the Orange faced No. 2 Clemson at home, McIntyre blamed himself for the team’s approach that led to the Orange conceding an “embarrassing” seven goals at home. The Orange were left too open at the back and they were punished.

If Ferrin isn’t healthy, McIntyre could go back to his three-defenders approach and choose to play Archimede up top alone again. The Orange played this way against Wake Forest, and lost 1-0.

“We have trust in what we’re doing,” Ferrin said in September.

If Ferrin is able to start up top, McIntyre has to decide between starting Archimede next to him, or an extra midfielder to help combat a Virginia offense that has outscored opponents 13-5 in conference play.

“We’ve got a lot of nicked up guys right now,” McIntyre said. “A couple of days of practice, a couple of days of T.L.C., and then we had back down to UVA.”

Staff writer David Schneidman contributed reporting to this story.

Published on November 6, 2019 at 8:31 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo