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In the waning minutes of Syracuse’s third match of the year, Camden Holbrook and Nathan Opoku were passing to each other deep in the left side of Vermont’s defensive half. Opoku faced pressure from multiple Catamount defenders and was forced to send it back to the senior midfielder. Holbrook then sent in a cross, but it never reached any SU player and Vermont got another clearance. 

No. 15 Syracuse’s (2-0-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) third match of the season against Vermont (1-1-1, 0-0 American East) was chock-full of attacks fizzling out and shots missing the mark. The Orange ended up with seven shots in the entire match, the fewest since a year ago on Sept. 3 against Georgetown. Levonte Johnson’s first goal of his SU career prevented the first loss of the season.

“(The Catamounts) did a very good job of disrupting us, limiting our shots and our shots on target,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “But we did a similar thing to them.” 

In the opening minutes, the Catamounts took advantage of deflections and multiple SU fouls in order to stay on attack. In the first five minutes alone, Vermont already had three free kicks, while the Orange couldn’t register an attack. But Syracuse’s lone shot of the first half ended up keeping it in the match.

In the 15th minute, Olu Oyegunle sent a clearance toward the middle of the field where a streaking Johnson quickly stuttered step to shake off a defender and dump off a pass to Nathan Opoku. The sophomore cut through Catamount defenders Noah Egan and Zach Barrett to find his stride, eventually passing the ball back to Johnson. The Seattle transfer, running down the left side, fired a shot that hit the top of the crossbar and squibbed into the net to give the Orange a 1-0 lead. 

But the Catamounts dominated possession in the first 25 minutes, costing the Orange the short lead they had. Vermont’s Sebastian Gebhart sent a lobbing cross into the center of the box where Garrett Lillie sent a header pass to Yaniv Bazini on the right side. With SU goalkeeper Russell Shealy set up on the right, Bazini sent a bullet shot into the bottom left corner, tying the match at one.

From there, Syracuse struggled to maintain control of the ball, something it had done in each of the first two matches of the season against Iona and Penn State. The Catamounts won most of the aerial battles in the first half and never let the Orange hold onto the ball for very long. Occasionally, SU would clear Vermont attacks by using short headers to get the ball away from the net. But this would keep possession in the Orange’s defensive half, and the Catamounts would quickly make a tackle to get the ball back. 

“(The Catamounts) are a very dangerous team on restarts and putting balls on target,” McIntyre said. 

Midway through the half, Vermont forward Randy Montie secured the ball off a SU turnover and fired a pass from the center of the field to Ryan Combe, who was sprinting down the left side of Vermont’s attacking half. Combe launched a cross to Joe Morrison. Morrison headed to Garrett Lille, but Lille’s shot went over the net. 

The second half followed the first 45 minutes with Vermont winning many one-on-one battles between the players. The Catamounts generated much more chances in the first 10 minutes of the second half, too. After an SU turnover, Combe skyrocketed a shot that Buster Sjoberg blocked, giving up a Vermont corner.  Minutes later, Yves Borie secured possession at midfield and sent a quick ball to Combie, whose pass went a little too long for Vitale.

Opoku jump started the attack in the 58th minute. Opoku used his speed to get Syracuse its second shot of the match, fighting off Barrett to get a chance. Less than a minute later, Colin Biros sent a bouncing pass to Opoku, who immediately flared it to midfielder Curt Calov. But after a few more passes, Julius Rauch had his shot blocked by a wall of Vermont players.

Over the next 13 minutes, the two teams traded turnovers and tackles. McIntyre asked for a response from his players at halftime. After this, SU started to win more aerial battles, especially from the backline of Buster Sjoberg, Oyegunle and Christian Curti.

Neither the Orange nor Catamounts got any opportunities near the net. In the 73rd minute, SU’s Holbrook sent another cross that came close to Vermont goalkeeper Nate Silveira. But the Catamounts were able to clear. Four minutes later, Biros had a throw-in toward Silveira. The throw deflected off a Catamount head, but Silvera’s quick reflexes kept the score even.

In the final stretch of the match, Syracuse controlled the ball and had some chances at the net. With three minutes remaining, Opoku and Biros jockeyed for the ball, but quickly caused a turnover. Meanwhile, Vermont’s final chance came with 90 seconds to go from Borie, who fired a hard, rising shot that just went wide left. Syracuse was unable to get close to Silveira, while Shealy ended the match by punching out one final pass from Lillie. 

“(It was) a difficult game,” McIntyre said. “I think big picture, we’ll look back and realize it was a good point to win on the road.”

Published on September 2, 2022 at 10:27 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com