Each of Syracuse’s three goals on Sunday night either started or ended with an unlikely source. The first, off of a corner kick from the far right corner, deflected off a few players. Then it trickled to Kamal Miller, who shot toward the left post.

On the field, players thought it was going in. From a distance, it looked like Miller had scored his first goal of the season. At first on the scorecard, he had.

Only the ball was last touched by Syracuse defender Miles Robinson, who had stuck out his shin to slightly redirect Miller’s shot attempt. Robinson turned Miller’s ball, which would have likely reached the back of the net, into a surefire goal.

“It just came off my shin,” Robinson said. “It wasn’t anything pretty.”

It may not have been pretty, but the score put SU up 1-0 two minutes before halftime, sending the Orange into the locker room with a lead after a relatively quiet first half. At the half, the goal was attributed to Robinson after initially being marked down for Miller.

In the next frame, Robinson scored again off a set piece. And in overtime, he chucked a well-placed overhead throw-in that set up the game winner. The sophomore’s two goals and assist powered No. 6 Syracuse (4-0) to a 3-2 double overtime win over St. John’s (1-1-1) Sunday night at SU Soccer Stadium.

“He’s our defensive wall down there,” said sophomore midfielder Jonathan Hagman, who scored the game winning goal. “And when he can score, it’s fantastic for us.”

Robinson halved his four-goal 2015 campaign on Sunday night alone, scoring twice on set pieces. His first, the shin redirection goal just before halftime, gave the Orange a lead it didn’t hold. Two St. John’s goals in an eight-minute span put Syracuse down by one. With nine minutes of regulation and Syracuse in a 2-1 hole, Miles Robinson scored again. Again, he was assisted by Kamal Miller.

Liam Callahan nailed a corner kick from the far left corner. It was swatted by St. John’s goalie Andrew Withers and the ball flung to Miller, who headed it right to the 6-foot-2 Robinson. From the middle of the six-yard box, Robinson leapt over everybody and headed the ball over the goalie’s head, into the net to tie the game at two.

“He’s good in the air,” said senior forward Chris Nanco, who leads the team with three goals. “That’s the thing — we trust him in the air.”

In a game Syracuse had 11 corner kicks compared with the Red Storm’s two, the former beat its longtime Big East foe with corners. Both of Robinson’s goals stemmed from corner kicks and the goal he assisted on came from a set piece. Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said taking advantage of those gave the Orange the decisive edge Sunday night.

“In these games, re-starts are an important part of scoring some goals,” McIntyre said. “And thankfully tonight the big fella (Robinson) helped us with a couple.”

On Jonathan Hagman’s game-winning goal four minutes into the second overtime, Robinson originally was not set to throw it in. But he trotted to the sideline to take the ball before throwing an overhead strike to the middle. It was headed by a St. John’s player right to Hagman, who wound up and drilled a liner into the net for the win.

“Our guys up front have scored some important goals for us,” McIntyre said. “But we haven’t had our defenders chipping in.”

Until now.

Published on September 5, 2016 at 12:11 am

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21