Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Syracuse regained possession in its own defensive third and began looking to transition. The ball made its way to Colin Biros in the midfield who dumped out wide left to Jeorgio Kocevski who crossed it in to Nathan Opoku. The sophomore forward had set up Biros for the match-winning goal in the 80th minute, finishing off a sequence that was propelled by the defense.

Constant pressure, strong play in the back and control of the midfield allowed SU (2-0-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) to continue creating several offensive opportunities in its 1-0 victory over No. 21 Penn State (0-1-1 Big Ten). The Orange outshot the Nittany Lions 29-10 and only had four saves, while PSU had nine. 

“That front four (Penn State) has got is really dangerous,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “But trying to get pressure on the ball, trying to ensure that we stopped that service into them, our front guys, forwards and attacking midfield worked really hard.”

Majority of possession was in SU’s attacking half, mostly because Penn State couldn’t get behind the Syracuse backline. The Nittany Lions had their share of opportunities, but none of them were that threatening. PSU’s best attempt came in the match’s final minutes as goalkeeper Lucas Daunhauer made an outstretched diving save off a header. 

Tonight, Syracuse was without Abdi Salim, who on Thursday, played in his first match since tearing his ACL. Head coach Ian McIntyre said Salim is still having some lingering effects from the injury and isn’t quite ready for a full 90 minutes. A specific date for Salim’s return to the pitch remains unknown.

Defender Olu Oyegunle filled Salim’s role, playing alongside Buster Sjoberg as the centerback duo. Sjoberg consistently shielded any Nittany Lion attackers from the ball and won many 50-50 balls. 

Though Penn State notched 10 shots, only few posed a threat, one of which came early in the first half. Midfielder Andrew Privett crossed the ball to a wide-open Sean Bettenhausen. Again, Daunhauer made an outstretched diving save, getting the ball just outside of the goal. Other times, Penn State shots were blocked by SU defenders.

“It wasn’t maybe perfect, but we did a good job,” Sjoberg said of the defensive performance. “There was never really any good chances. I think, overall, very good performance.”

On one play in the first half, Penn State’s Tyger Evans used a nifty move in the corner to get around an SU defender. Driving towards the box, he was met with several SU defenders who blocked his shot.

Though it only listed four defenders, Syracuse sometimes in its formation looked like it had a five-back formation, but once it realized it was dominating the match offensively, the outside defenders continued to press high and pressure PSU.

Penn State tried numerous times to slip over-the-top through balls into its forwards, but nothing could get past the backline. The Nittany Lions only had three corner kicks, while the Orange had 10. Syracuse was also very aggressive and physical, racking up 18 fouls and four yellow cards, one of which went to the Syracuse bench. But the physicality and aggression allowed SU to control the ball in the midfield and distribute wide.

Once SU got the ball wide, it would slip either Kocevski or Levonte Johnson down the sideline and send a cross or create a corner. And if they couldn’t get on the end of the through ball, the pressure would force Penn State to play the ball out of bounds.  

“The defense is really strong, they tried to stay compact,” Opoku said. “If you are leading, it’s tough to defend the last few minutes of the match. We just had to stay compact and active.”

Johnson had multiple attempts on the left sideline, but it usually resulted in Penn State clearing the ball out or Johnson creating one of the Orange’s 10 corners. 

When Penn State tried to build out of the back and even on goal kicks, Syracuse maintained a high line, with the backline on the midfield line. On one clearance, PSU goalkeeper Kris Shakes felt his intended target should’ve kept running in his run. It was a small pocket of space that would have continued a potential attack, but the player stopped his run, watching the ball trickle out of bounds, with Shakes visibly and verbally frustrated. 

Syracuse kept piling on the opportunities, which all started from the aggression, control of the midfield and strong backline. McIntyre kept telling his team throughout the match to maintain formation by shouting for players to “pinch in,” making sure the formation wasn’t too sporadic with empty pockets of space.   

The Orange struggled to finish as only one of its 29 shots found the back of the net, but Penn State wasn’t threatening other than in the final minutes. PSU also had one goal waived off because of goalie interference against Daunhauer. 

“I think Penn State just kind of came back into the game towards the end of the second half,” McIntyre said. “We closed it out. We were solid, but I challenged the guys to have a real strong start to the second half.”

Published on August 28, 2022 at 10:43 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini