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Syracuse controlled possession and dictated the pace of Monday night’s first half against Bucknell. In the 14th minute, Curt Calov stood at the top of the box with four Bucknell jerseys surrounding him. The pass inside wasn’t clean, so all the freshman could do was put a foot on the ball in hopes of getting it behind the defenders. It worked, and the extra touch allowed Deandre Kerr to sneak into the box all alone. He easily collected the loose ball and sent a right-footed shot into the bottom corner of the net to put SU up 1-0.

Syracuse (7-5-2, 1-3-1 Atlantic Coast) dominated all aspects in its 4-0 win over Bucknell (4-7-2, 2-2-1 Patriot League). The Orange outshot the Bison 8-1 and tallied six more corner kicks en route to their third straight shutout.

The Orange continued their pressure, which their aggressive backline led. Patriot League teams don’t usually play as far up as SU was during the first half, the ESPN+ broadcasters said. With the three defenders standing nearly at midfield in an offensive formation, Bucknell was called for two offsides in the first half.

With seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half, Jeorgio Kocevski received a pass inside from Camden Holbrook. Kocevski immediately rifled a low kick into Manel Busquets, and the Duquesne transfer lifted the ball up to the top right corner of the net to put Syracuse up by two goals. That successful try was sandwiched between two unsuccessful crosses from Busquets, both of which tried to find Francesco Pagano.

Bennett Schwartz — the Bisons’ junior goalkeeper — allows fewer goals per match than either SU goalkeeper and has turned in three shutouts this year. One of his saves came after he broke to his left in an attempt to save Pagano’s potential shot. Then he had to sprint to his left in order to get in position to dive and save a shot from Jackson Glenn. Schwartz finished off the first half with another diving stop to stifle Pagano’s attempt.

In the first 15 minutes of the second half, Syracuse couldn’t find that same pressure it produced against Bucknell in the first half. SU played back more and allowed Bucknell to get its first shot on goal. It wasn’t much of a threat, however, as Aidan Lawlor fed in a service that went too far, allowing Lucas Daunhauer to come out of the net to grab it.

The Orange regained some of that aggressiveness, and it translated to their third and final goal. With 24 minutes remaining, Calov worked around his man on the far wing. The Bison defender forced Calov down to the end line, but the freshman curved around his defender and fired a low cross inside. Julius Rauch awaited the kick and redirected the ball behind Schwartz’s right leg. Later, Julio Fulcar connected on a penalty kick with 20 seconds left, putting Syracuse up by four to seal the game.

With around 13 minutes left in the game, the Bison created a scoring opportunity, but Daunhauer made a diving save with his outstretched left hand to block a header from Patrick O’Hara. That was the closest Syracuse let Bucknell get to scoring. Braeden Glass fired a one-timer far over the top crossbar, but the shot didn’t threaten, and by the end of it, Syracuse ended the game with its fifth shutout of the year.

Published on October 11, 2021 at 9:30 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt