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After Syracuse stunned top-ranked Clemson in a 2-1 victory last week, it moved up 13 spots to No. 3 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll. This is the first time since 2015 that the Orange have been ranked in the top-five, where it ranked fourth and eventually advanced to that season’s College Cup semifinals.

SU has slowly climbed the rankings throughout the first four weeks of the season after receiving no votes in the preseason. For the first time since 2018, the Orange were ranked, falling in at No. 15 after defeating then-No. 21 Penn State 1-0. But following a 1-1 draw against Vermont, Syracuse fell back to No. 24. 

The Orange recovered with another 1-0 victory, this time against then-No. 22 Notre Dame. SU remained unbeaten heading into its road matchup against the Tigers, who won the national championship last season. 

In Friday’s match, Clemson was missing its top attacker, Ousmane Sylla. Despite his absence, the Tigers scored first with 2021 College Cup’s Offensive Most Outstanding Player, Isaiah Reid getting a ball past SU keeper Russell Shealy. But about 10 minutes later, Levonte Johnson took advantage of a Clemson slip-up, stealing possession and distributing the ball to Jeorgio Kocevski, who scored his first goal of the season on an open net.

In the 48th minute, Johnson pounced on another Clemson mishap, cutting toward the goal and taking a shot that went over Tiger keeper Trevor Manion to give the Orange the lead. They held onto victory by dominating possession, outshooting Clemson 20-12, leading to their opponent’s first loss since November 2021.