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Nathan Opoku made multiple errant passes in the opening 10 minutes of Syracuse’s match against Iona. While Opoku lacked progressive plays in the beginning stages of the match, he still got chances on net with the help of Johnson’s passing.

With 31 minutes remaining in the first half, Johnson received a throw-in from Noah Singelmann on the right side of the field. But when the ball bounced toward Johnson, he immediately received pressure from Gael defender Noah Holczinger. Once it was close enough to him, Johnson used his cleats to deflect the ball to a sprinting Opoku. The sophomore pushed off of midfielder Ricardo Senen Pinillos and dribbled toward the center of the box.

Opoku’s shot bounced off Senen Pinillos, rolling right past goalie Juan Alfaro Monge to give the Orange an early lead.

Opoku’s goal highlighted the changing of the guard at forward for Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast), who defeated Iona (0-1, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) 2-0 at SU Soccer Stadium. Heading into the 2022 season, the Orange lost two starting attackers from last year. Against the Gaels, SU relied on transfers Opoku (Lindsey Wilson College) and Johnson (Seattle University) to create shots and apply pressure to Iona’s defense. Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre also subbed in other forwards like Francesco Pagano and Julius Rauch, who scored the Orange’s second goal of the game.

Throughout his career at Syracuse, McIntyre has shown a tendency to switch formations based on the squad he currently has, transitioning from a 4-3-3 in 2018 to the 3-5-2 in 2021. But even with the loss of his two starting forwards, McIntyre ran last year’s formation to open the 2022 season. McIntyre has a preference for the 3-5-2, but the decision came down to who was a part of the attacking unit.

“Ultimately, players will dictate how we play based on their strengths,” McIntyre said. “I think we’ve got some options up front (and) the ability to rotate some players.”

In 2021, Syracuse featured a two-attacker system as part of the 3-5-2 formation. Those roles were filled up by DeAndre Kerr and Manel Busquets. The forwards scored 36% of the Orange’s total points last season. Kerr led SU with nine goals, helping him earn United Soccer Coaches’ second team All-Region honors. But Kerr signed with Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and Busquets graduated.

After these losses, Syracuse found its starting attackers in the transfer portal. Johnson transferred to SU after having the most goals (nine) and points (26) for the Redhawks. Similarly, Opoku led the Blue Raiders’ men’s soccer team in goals (19) and points (43).

His first career goal with the Orange opened him up for more opportunities to score and to pressure the Gaels. Two minutes after the match’s first goal, Opoku was right in front of Alfaro Monge. He pressured the goalie so much so that Alfaro Monge ended up kicking it out of bounds, awarding SU with one of its nine corner kicks from the match.

As the final 45 minutes advanced, Opoku tore through the Gaels’ backline with his footwork. In the span of three minutes, the sophomore had Iona defender Kendell Thomas and midfielder Federico Russo incorrectly anticipating his movements. Both Thomas and Russo spun in the wrong direction while Opoku took two close-range shots.

Opoku took advantage of holes in the Iona defense, but also had control of his position at right striker. While he never played in this formation at Lindsey Wilson, Opoku still felt comfortable with his transition to the new system.

“I’ve never played in the 3-5-2,” Opoku said. “But I’m coachable. So, any formation the coach brings up, I’m able to just stick to it.”

Opoku and Johnson played an equal number of minutes (50) since they were subbed out by Rauch and Pagano with 16 minutes left in the first half as well as with 25 minutes remaining in the second.

Like his fellow sophomore, Rauch slotted into the right side of the attack, creating consistent chances for Syracuse. With over 15 minutes left in the first half, SU midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski rushed down the left side of Iona’s half and slotted the ball down to Rauch. The German spun and quickly took a shot before it was deflected by Thomas and eventually into the gloves of Alfaro Monge. Eventually, Rauch’s attacks got the better of the Gaels in the second half.

Iona’s Aly Camara stole a throw-in pass from Singelmann and tried to make a clearance. Kocevski stopped the attempt and immediately passed the ball to Amferny Sinclair. The senior midfielder slipped by two Gael defenders but was tipped off of Giona Leibold.

With the ball moving back to the right, Rauch saw a crease between Holczinger and Russo and quickly buried a shot in the bottom right corner of the net to cement Syracuse’s victory. The goal marked all four attackers breaking through the backline in the evening against Iona.

“I think we got four good attacking players,” McIntyre said. “We have (the ability to score) goals on this team.”

Published on August 25, 2022 at 10:20 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com