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In the first 9 scheduled games in 2020, Syracuse went 1-3-3, with two matchups canceled due to COVID-19 protocols. One of SU’s losses came in double overtime against then-No. 2 Pittsburgh and back-to-back overtime ties against Louisville and Virginia Tech. The stop-and-start season fell away from the Orange and ended with a whimper after a non-conference win and two canceled matches.

For SU and 12th-year head coach Ian McIntyre, the start of the 2021 season presented a different challenge — one that included a longer regular season schedule and tough opening competition. The Orange started 1-2, and McIntyre said he wanted to face tough opponents early in the season to prepare his team for Atlantic Coast Conference play.

“We’ve scheduled this week going away to Penn State followed up by Georgetown to prepare us for the rigors of ACC competition,” McIntyre said after the Penn State loss.

Those two losses remain the only non-conference defeats the Orange have had in 2021 thus far. McIntyre and the team remained positive after holding the Hoyas — who won the national championship in 2019 — to just one goal early in the second half.

Deandre Kerr, Syracuse’s second-leading point scorer in 2020, said he thought the Orange played well enough on the wings against a top-ranked team to win the game. The losses, however, signaled one of three omens that has defined the first half of SU’s season and will continue to affect the team’s performance in the second half.

Help up front

Kerr finished 2020 with four goals and had the second-most points and shots on goal, leading many to believe that he will be Syracuse’s top-scoring option for the next four years. Despite having just five games to adjust to the ACC, a conference full of fast teams and physical opponents, McIntyre said that Kerr was exciting to watch and “just scratched the surface” of his capabilities this year. But both knew that Kerr would need some help up front to replicate last year’s success.

Manel Busquets complemented the forward last year, but he came out of training camp with an ankle injury. Additionally, Kerr has been sidelined for two of Syracuse’s games with lower body injuries, and he didn’t start against the Nittany Lions. McIntyre said Kerr was “day-to-day” heading into their 5-2 win over Vermont.

With the Orange’s over-the-top style of play, one which feeds the ball up to their forwards to apply as much pressure as possible, they need quick players. Kerr still leads Syracuse with seven goals, but his absence has led to seven different SU players finding the net.

Newcomers

Part of McIntyre’s approach this offseason was to acquire depth to replace Sondre Norheim and Simon Triantafillou, both of whom graduated after last season. Along with those losses, Abdi Salim has been limited to one game due to injury. McIntyre said prior to the season that the team was still messing with formations, specifically at the back line. But the Orange have mostly settled on a starting three of Buster Sjoberg, Max Kent and Christian Curti — all of whom are transfers in their first season with the Orange.

Curt Calov and Colin Biros are also in their first year donning the striped orange and blue jerseys. McIntyre said that he has been pleased with their play and was excited prior to the season about the blend of freshman faces and players with previous college experience.

Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

The transfers on the team have also accounted for 14 points — 17 shots on goal and five goals. The backline and midfield has gradually gelled over the first part of the season, mastering the “steep learning curve” that McIntyre said they all had coming into 2021. The unit has only allowed more than two goals twice thus far.

The “new faces” have quickly found themselves in the mix of Syracuse’s day-to-day game plan. Led by Calov and his four goals, the pack of new players includes quality depth that has stepped up in the absences of other players including Amferny Sinclair and Kerr. After Syracuse’s win over Niagara — a game that McIntyre said could have gone much worse considering their “emotional” loss to Georgetown beforehand — the head coach said he trusted his depth to keep the clean sheet he hoped for. The Orange won 7-0.

Goalkeeper situation

Russell Shealy started 10 games for the Orange last year, allowing 14 goals. He was the starter at the beginning of the season until he rolled his ankle during warmups around 20 minutes prior to the game against Niagara. That thrust transfer Lucas Daunhauer in front of the net for his first minutes at a Division I school, and he’s started each game since. The former All-Conference Honorable Mention at DII Kentucky Wesleyan had 109 saves through 16 starts before transferring to SU.

Maya Goosmann | Digital Design Director

McIntyre said Shealy is close to being back and has been involved in practice recently. However, Shealy must regain his starting job midway through a season that has seen Syracuse allow 12 goals — five of which came in the overtime loss to Louisville. Even in that loss, two of the goals came on penalty kicks, and McIntyre blamed the number of goals on the Orange.

The Orange still have games against high-powered offensive teams like Clemson and Virginia Tech, who rank first and fourth respectively in goals in the ACC this season. But results like that against Louisville can’t happen anymore, multiple Syracuse players said. But Shealy’s absence has now extended past three weeks, and Syracuse has been staring down the prospect of starting Daunhauer, a former Division II goalkeeper, in its quest for a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Published on September 28, 2021 at 9:57 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt