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Levonte Johnson saw that Nathan Opoku was open. The two transfer forwards were at the top left corner of Louisville’s penalty box when two Cardinal defenders started to close in on Johnson. While Johnson faced pressure, Opoku moved forward into a position where only one Cardinal defender, Bryce LeBel, stood in his way.

Once Opoku got the pass from Johnson, he faked to his right, and then went back to his left, leaving LeBel disoriented. He then buried his second shot of the night into the net past Cardinals keeper Ryan Troutman, scoring his conference-best eighth goal of the season.

Opoku’s goal gave No. 5 Syracuse (11-2-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) the early advantage, and one it wouldn’t give up in its 2-1 win over No. 11 Louisville (8-3-2, 3-2-1 ACC). From the opening whistle, the Orange won nearly every aerial battle. And whenever the Cardinals started a possession, there were SU defenders in front of them. 

This led to more offensive chances and another score from Levonte Johnson. It extended Syracuse’s lead to a point where once Jeorgio Kocevski got a red card, SU already had the match in control, securing its first win over Louisville since 2008 and remaining at the top of the ACC standings.

Less than 90 seconds into the match, Syracuse tore through Louisville’s defensive formation. Noah Singelmann drove past a Cardinal and slotted a pass toward Kocevski. Kocevski then immediately chipped the ball to Lorenzo Boselli, who scored on the header. The Orange were running to celebrate, but the goal was called off because of an offside call. 

SU continued with strong progressions coming up short. Three minutes later, Opoku sent a low, hard shot from outside of the box into the bottom left corner of the net which was caught by Troutman. But 13 minutes after his first shot, Opoku got the better of Troutman, this time dribbling to create space for a goal to make the score 1-0. 

“Both their centerbacks and one of their right backs were carded,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “I thought our attacking players were terrific.”

From the center of the pitch, Boselli nudged his defender off the ball and fired a pass that was slightly elevated off the ground. Johnson already had a step on Josh Jones, outrunning him to the ball as he entered the box. 

With Johnson sprinting toward the net with possession, Troutman came away from the goal line to make a save. But with Troutman’s move from the goal line, Johnson had open space to score, easily notching Syracuse’s second goal of the night. 

The 11th-ranked Cardinals had opportunities throughout the match, eventually tying the Orange with 11 shots apiece. Louisville’s Brandon McManus had a step on the left side of SU’s backline twice in the first half, setting up two shots that grazed Russell Shealy’s net. 

“They played with three guys up front, we have three defenders. So when the ball was turned over, they tried to expose those numbers,” McIntyre said. “But the same thing happened with our two center forwards.”

Louisville played much more frantically and quickly in the early stages of the second half. While their passes and progression were initially unorganized, the Cardinals still got some scoring opportunities. A few minutes into the second half, Damien Barker John snuck into the box for Louisville’s first scoring chance of the final 45 minutes.

Near Shealy’s vicinity, Barker John got an initial touch on the ball and decided not to shoot. But before he could get a second touch on it, Abdi Salim made a slide tackle on the ball, leading to a Syracuse clearance.  

Still, the Orange created scoring opportunities throughout the game. Opoku sent a long pass out wide to Singelmann in the 57th minute. The ball eventually made its way to Kocevski, whose shot from outside of the box sailed over the net. A minute later, Giona Leibold’s crisp shot from the left side of the box was stopped by a foot save from Troutman.

But with 13 minutes remaining in the match, Kocevski’s red card forced the Orange to adjust with 10 men. After a Louisville corner kick stalled out, Kocevski ran into Jones and was given his second yellow card of the night, leaving the pitch in shocked frustration. Even though it’s the second time this season Kocevski got removed from the game due to yellow cards, McIntyre still trusts him. 

“I thought the second yellow card was soft,” McIntyre said. “But I thought ultimately that these were two yellow cards he could have.”

After the card, the Orange did not register a shot for the rest of the match, even conceding a goal with less than two minutes remaining. Cardinal Sander Roed took a free kick that Shealy blocked, but couldn’t get a hold off. On the loose ball, Jones tapped the ball into the net, making the score 2-1. But as the Cardinals tried for one more attempt, Amferny Sinclair made a sliding tackle that deflected the ball off a Louisville player, killing the time to secure the Orange’s fifth conference win.

“Although they may have had a couple of chances, their front three didn’t. And that was a difference tonight,” McIntyre said.

Published on October 14, 2022 at 10:28 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com