Tajon Buchanan sprinted toward the sideline, matching the energy of the Syracuse fans who had just risen from the bleachers in unison. When SU Soccer Stadium was perhaps at its highest decibel level of the entire night, Buchanan appeared to channel its energy and gave his fans a celebratory backflip. His teammates mobbed him, the crowd cheered even louder and Buchanan soaked it all in from his place in the middle of his team.

He had, after all, just given the Orange a 4-3 lead over Hofstra with just less than three minutes left, all but sealing the victory for Syracuse in its home opener.

Buchanan’s goal was his second of the game to go along with an assist, capping off what was easily the best performance of his young collegiate career. After tallying a goal and assist in SU’s first two games of the season, the sophomore is already up to eight points through three games, just two shy of his total last year, when he was named to the All-ACC Third Team. His rapid development proved clutch for the Orange (2-1-0) Sunday night in its high-scoring win against the Pride (0-3-1).

His game-winning goal came following a Hugo Delhommelle free kick that was served into the box and quickly shuffled out. Buchanan grabbed the rebound and dribbled past a defender before pushing it past the Hofstra goalie for the game-clinching score. His first goal also came off a free kick, albeit much more cleanly.

“I didn’t do very well on the last one,” said Delhommelle, laughing. “It was more difficult, I was tired, so my legs were pretty heavy.”

It didn’t affect Buchanan, though, as he showed his adaptability by not giving up on the play after the original free kick into the box was deflected away. He also put his versatility on display by finishing with his feet rather than his head, which he used to score his first goal of the game in the 26th minute.

The original goal came after a Pride hand ball that was followed by another Delhommelle free kick. Delhommelle, who said he was aiming to put the ball in the area of the far post, hit the target. It was up to one of his teammates to find a hole and put the ball in the goal, and Buchanan didn’t disappoint. His header gave the Orange a 2-1 lead and the momentum of the match, but it wasn’t until his final goal that SU finally capitalized on putting Hofstra away for good.

“He’s always been a really great player,” said midfielder Ryan Raposo, who played with Buchanan on their Canadian provincial team when they were 14 and 15. “Athletic, great feet, great finishing, that’s all you need in a player.”

The ball-handling ability of Buchanan has always been special, something that Raposo saw when they were younger and Delhommelle saw as soon as he met him. Despite knowing Buchanan for a year and a half now, Delhommelle said he still can’t predict where his teammate is going with the ball when he’s near the goal.

Buchanan now leads the Orange in shots on goal this season and is tied for the team-lead in total shots. His eight points are double the second-highest total on the team. He’s on pace to have one of the highest-scoring seasons for a Syracuse player in years, but his coach thinks his fellow forwards may be set to have just as much success as the season goes on.

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“I think he’s going to be an important part of us moving forward,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “We have a lot of exciting players in the final third. We’ve got some options, and that’s a good problem for me.”

In the future, Buchanan may not be asked to do as much as he’s currently doing offensively. But for now, he’s one of the hottest players in the conference and leading the way for the Orange, and Buchanan’s teammates don’t see any reason for that to stop anytime soon.

“It’s important to have players like that, in big games and big times they show up,” Delhommelle said. “We depend a lot on Tajon because we think he’s an amazing player, and he showed that today.”

Published on September 2, 2018 at 10:09 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34