Oyvind Alseth hasn’t fit a description since arriving to Syracuse. As new positional holes opened up for the Orange, he’s changed the narrative on the kind of player he is.

He was cast as a defender his freshman year, frequently plugged in the midfield last season and has dabbled as a forward at times this year.

“We don’t specifically recruit position-specific players,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “Yes you get a defender or there’s a forward you hope can score goals for you, but we try to recruit good soccer players that can solve problems.”

Alseth has primarily started at three positions in his three years at Syracuse (3-1-1, 0-0-1 Atlantic Coast) — right back, right wingback and central midfielder. His transition into a more offensive role this season filled a hole for the team that lost nearly 70 percent of its goals from last season and turned him into the leading scorer.

“With a new group of players it’s working on the right blend and the right combinations,” McIntyre said. “He’s a player that has a different skill set, perhaps, than some other players so we’re trying to get him a more further and advanced role higher up the pitch.”

Alseth started all 18 games his freshman year, primarily at right back in a four-man defensive line. He was the only freshman among a veteran defense, and McIntyre said at the time that Alseth had developed into one of the best right backs in the ACC.

The ripple effects of a team-wide formation change the following season displaced Alseth to right wingback — a midfield position in which he ran up and down the field along the sideline. He didn’t net his first career goal until 15 games into his second season and converted on only two more shots the rest of the season.

“My role (last year) probably fit me better because I feel like my strong side is going forward,” Alseth said.

But departures of 15 players from last season, including center midfielder Nick Perea, left a hole in the heart of SU’s central line. But when asked to fill the role during the spring season, Alseth said he struggled.

He had to adjust to having less time with the ball and said he needed better awareness of the players around him. He had to manage deferring the ball to teammates in all directions, not just forward.

It took time and McIntyre yelling at him to use fewer touches, he said, to improve and gain confidence at the position.

But the first game of this season came at Hofstra, and Alseth wasn’t in the midfield. He was playing forward.

“I was not hoping that, nor expecting that to be honest,” Alseth, who is listed on the roster as a defender and midfielder, said. “It turned out to be a one-game thing.”

With forward Ben Polk out with an injury, Alseth had to fill in.

Since his initial cameo at forward, he’s moved back to the midfield with Jusso Pasanen and Julian Buescher. Pasanen shades back defensively and Buescher goes more forward, while Alseth solidifies the middle between them.

Alseth leads the team with three goals — matching his total from his first two years at SU — and is the only player on the team with multiple goals.

His teammates laud Alseth for his ability to dribble with speed. While McIntyre recognizes that Alseth is tough to defend outside one-on-one, he likes letting him play through the middle.

“His cutting makes him pretty strong,” Buescher said. “He can run a lot, he’s fit and he has good vision, so I think that makes him a little bit different.”

In a Sept. 4 win over UC Riverside, Alseth faked a shot and stopped inside the box, sending his defender to the ground and giving him room to score.

In Friday’s tie against No. 23 Louisville, he made a jab step to cut past a charging defender in the midfield area. He then poked a ball forward to Buescher, who returned the ball with one touch before Alseth found the back of the net.

“I feel like I’ve adapted pretty well to the central midfield position,” Alseth said.

Later in the game, though, midfielder Korab Syla tweaked his hamstring, causing players to be shifted around in the second half. Alseth moved from midfield to the right wing of a three-man attack — a position he played with K-W United in the Premier Development League this summer.

Early in his career Alseth was focused on serving crosses into the box, but now McIntyre hopes he’s on the other end to receive them.

Said McIntyre: “Long may that flexibility continue.”

Published on September 14, 2015 at 7:16 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus