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Syracuse quickly regained possession from Vermont after a misfire from Manel Busquets. It was halfway through the first half of Tuesday night’s match, and the Orange had just extended their lead to two goals. Then, Colin Biros had the ball on the far wing. His cross found Luke Biasi at the top of the box, and Busquets leaked inside. The forward put his right arm up, signaling for a pass-in. Busquets’ touch was interrupted by a Vermont defender, but SU continued its pressure.

It was that sort of pressure — complemented by quality crosses and wing passing — that the Orange (5-4-1, 1-2-0 Atlantic Coast) translated into five goals that shut down a high-powered Vermont team and resulted in SU winning 5-2. The Catamounts (5-3-1, 0-1-0 American East) came into the match with the most shots and corner kicks in their conference. They were led by Alex Nagy and Nacho Lerech, who have a combined 30 shots on goal. But Syracuse got off to a fast start, playing what head coach Ian McIntyre called a “pleasing” first 15 minutes.

“The coaches impose a culture that every set piece can win a game,” Busquets said. “We have to complement players in the box, so we’ve been working on that.”

Crossing is a skill that McIntyre compared to golfing. Players need to do it “1,000 times,” replicating the same touches and approach each practice. It’s something that McIntyre said he sees constantly from freshman Curt Calov — who’s known for being the last player out of Manley Field House. Specifically in midweek games such as Tuesday’s, games that are sandwiched in between “emotional” losses and draws against high-powered ACC opponents, McIntyre applauds his team for displaying the technical aspect of the game. 

In the second period, Christian Curti rifled a cross-pitch shot to Giona Leibold on the left wing. Leibold — a freshman — has been one of the players on the outside that the Orange have tried working the ball toward this season when creating chances on the wings. With Deandre Kerr out against Vermont, the over-the-top style of play that has aided several of Kerr’s seven goals fell away in favor of outside passing. Leibold got a good first touch off his left leg and slid the ball in between the legs of the Catamount trying to stop his momentum. 

“When we cross the ball … we have really good players on the side like Giona that can beat the defender and cross the ball,” Busquets said. 

Prior to Tuesday’s win, McIntyre said he believed the Catamounts could win the American East Conference for the second year in a row. Vermont got off to a 5-0 start, didn’t allow a goal until their 2-2 tie against Siena and didn’t lose until the next game against Harvard. The 12th-year head coach still believes that the Vermont team is the same from its first five games. McIntyre initially said SU would come out in a 4-4-2 formation with the goal of playing less up the middle to counteract their “competitive” and “physical” style of play. 

While they still came out in McIntyre’s custom 3-5-2 formation, the Orange still mainly attempted to create offensive opportunities on the outside. Leibold started the transition that led to Syracuse’s second goal on a give-and-go with Francesco Pagano down the left wing. Leibold eventually found enough space for a cross that caught Busquets inside the box. Two more close-range passes put the Orange up 2-0 seven minutes into the game. 

Syracuse tried to translate their play on the outside into attacking time in the final third. Despite only outshooting Vermont 15-11, the Orange held possession in that final third for 30% of the time in the first half and 33% of the time in the second half. SU adjusted with relative ease for the majority of Tuesday’s win to the different style of play the Catamounts presented. Max Kent said that local teams — Cornell, Niagara and Vermont — are much more aggressive against the Orange because “they all want to beat Syracuse.” 

But it was Syracuse on Tuesday night that played close to Vermont. It was Busquets who fought off two UVM players in order to cross to Pagano for a shot on goal. And it was Pagano who consistently showed that he played with what McIntyre said was “his heart on his sleeve,” drawing one yellow card and multiple other fouls throughout the game.

Syracuse was on top of Vermont tactically, Kent said, and that started with quality first touches that SU practices prior to every game. And it started with the mentality that any set piece can win a game for the Orange.

“Trying to meet and then ultimately exceed the level of intensity of a very good Vermont team, I thought we came out well,” McIntyre said.

Published on September 28, 2021 at 11:22 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt