It took Syracuse a long time to build any sort of advantage during Saturday's rainy exhibition match against Hartwick.
But once it finally did, the Orange couldn't be stopped.
Noah Rhynhart broke a 1-1 deadlock in the 71st minute, and SU added two more insurance goals late to post a 4-1 victory over the Hawks at the SU Soccer Stadium.
"To get that first game out of the way was good," Orange head coach Ian McIntyre told Syracuse Athletics [7]. "Our performance grew stronger as the game wore on, and some of our guys coming off the bench really gave us a lift."
The Orange took an early lead 34 minutes into the contest on a penalty-kick goal by Julian Buescher. However, Nick Hillis brought the Hawks even early in the second half.
The score remained tied until Rhynhart found an open shot off a rebound and buried it for the eventual game-winner. Mike Koegel and Stefanos Stamoulacatos punched home the other goals for SU.
Syracuse goalkeepers Alex Bono [8] and Matt Stith combined for three saves.
The Orange is 8-1 in exhibition matches since 2011. It faces Akron this Friday at 7 p.m. in another friendly.
