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Giona Leibold’s 83rd-minute goal against Cornell gave Syracuse a spot in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2015 — the year the Orange advanced to the Final Four. Both two tournament wins this year have been one-goal matches with clutch goals at the end of regulation or in overtime.

SU has been dominant in the midfield and controlling the pace of play, outshooting Cornell and UPenn 39-20 in its two NCAA Tournament games. The victory over the Big Red meant the Orange had defeated all the opponents they had lost to earlier in the season. 

SU now faces Vermont, which it played and struggled against earlier in the season. When the Orange traveled to Burlington, they initially had a lead, with Levonte Johnson scoring in the ninth minute. But after Johnson’s score, the Catamounts never allowed Syracuse to maintain its pace. The match ended in a 1-1 draw with Vermont outshooting SU 10-7.

Now the two squads match up with each other again, this time for a chance to go to Cary, North Carolina for the College Cup. Before the Orange’s (16-2-4, 5-1-2 Atlantic Coast) Elite Eight matchup, here’s everything you need to know about the Catamounts (16-3-2, 5-1-1 America East). 

The last time the two played:

The Orange came to Burlington on Sept. 2 after picking their first ranked win of the year — a 1-0 victory over then-No. 21 Penn State at SU Soccer Stadium. The matchup against the Catamounts was also SU’s first road game of the season. 

In the opening minutes, the Catamounts took advantage of deflections and multiple SU fouls to stay on attack, while the Orange could barely register a shot. But Syracuse’s lone shot of the first half kept it in the match. Johnson quickly stutter stepped to shake off a defender and dump off a pass to Nathan Opoku. Opoku cut through Catamount defenders, eventually passing the ball back to Johnson. Johnson fired a shot that hit the top of the crossbar and squibbed into the net to give the Orange a 1-0 lead, his first goal with Syracuse. 

But Vermont’s Yaniv Bazini ran down the right side of the pitch. 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.

In the second half, Vermont won many one-on-one battles between the players and generated more chances in the first 10 minutes. By the end of the match, Vermont had more shots than Syracuse. This was one of just two matches this season where the Orange were outshot by their opponents.

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

The Catamount report:

Following its tie with Syracuse, Vermont went on an 11-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 31-3 over that stretch. 

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

For the last seven matches of the streak, Vermont didn’t allow a single goal. Goalkeeper Nate Silveira has the second-best goals against average and save percentage in the conference. Silveira became the sixth keeper in America East history to win the Goalkeeper of the Year award twice after winning it in 2021. The Catamounts have the second-best scoring defense in the conference.

Even with a solid presence on both ends of the pitch, Vermont bowed out early in the 2022 America East Tournament. The Catamounts surrendered an 81st-minute goal to lose 1-0 to UAlbany in the conference semifinals. 

But with the 15th-highest RPI in the country (including a draw against SU and a victory over Cornell), Vermont earned an at-large bid to the tournament. In the first round against Quinnipiac, Egan scored a 74th-minute goal to level the match at two goals apiece, before Alex Nagy gave Vermont the win in overtime.

The Catamounts again found themselves trailing in the second half, falling behind 2-0 to No. 11 SMU. But Max Murray scored twice, then Garrett Lillie scored off of a high cross at the top of the box to cement the upset. Back home at Burlington, Vermont shut out UCLA — a team that had just knocked off the defending champions No. 6 Clemson — 3-0 to advance and face Syracuse.  

Megan Thompson | Digital Design Director

How Syracuse beats Vermont:

McIntyre acknowledged the Catamounts were very good at disrupting SU chances and attacks. But all the Orange need is one shot. The ACC and NCAA Tournaments proved that. SU can create quick counter attacks where midfielders like Leibold can move down the pitch to either score or set up a cross. From there, Johnson and Opoku have been more than proficient at finding the back of the net. 

Leibold, along with Noah Singelmann can also create solid crosses. For this to work though, players like Curt Calov must make a difference on both ends of the pitch. Another route to success could be through drawing penalty shots as Jeorgio Kocevski has been crucial time and time again from the penalty spot.

Stat to know: 140

While Vermont may not have the most shots in the America East, it is certainly the most accurate with 140 shots on goal. The Catamounts also average the most shots on goal per game (16) in the conference. In their matchup with Syracuse back in September, however, they only got one shot on goal.

Player to watch: Alex Nagy, midfielder, No. 13

Nagy has recorded the most points for the Catamounts this season with nine goals and nine assists. The fifth-year player also leads the team in shots. In his first three seasons with the Catamounts, he only had 12 total points, before exploding offensively in 2021 with 20 points. He also contributed three game-winning goals this year.

Published on November 30, 2022 at 11:29 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com