Syracuse Earns 2-Seed in ACC Tournament After Draw With Boston College
Syracuse Men’s Soccer wrapped up their regular season and senior day by securing the #2 seed in the ACC Tournament and ending the regular season ranked #4.
The Orange entered Friday with a chance to be the top seed if they secured a win and got a draw or loss from Virginia. Unfortunately, Syracuse was at odds without Amferny Sinclair and without being able to start Jeorgio Kocevski considering he was making his return back to the squad today.
The first few minutes of the game showed a side motivated and ready to play but slowly their lack of midfield control came back to bite them. Coming into the game the primary concern for Syracuse was going to be Stefan Sigurdarson who entered the day with 12 goals, 3 more than anyone else in the ACC. The Eagles early attack was centered on longer, over the top passes trying to connect to their star forward but the Orange handled it well.
It was their early adjustment that led to their 12th minute goal and an overall better half than Syracuse put together. Walker Davey kissed a perfectly placed corner with the side of his head into the right side of the goal and all Russell Shealy could do was watch.
Boston College maintained control, generating chances and maintaining possession until Kocevski was subbed on in the 28th minute. Kocevski very nearly had two assists within minutes of coming onto the field. Not only was his quality missed but they needed a greater midfield presence. Without him or Sinclair, Colin Biros was their only midfielder playing centrally and he ended up falling back more defensively after the strong start from BC.
Once Kocevski came on they were able to settle back into the normal brand of soccer than Ian McIntyre’s squad has played all season. Giona Leibold was another player who made a massive difference in this game. A few of the regular creators for Syracuse got off to slower starts but Leibold was flashy and progressive the entire game. His ability to control the ball with clean first touches, consistency in moving the ball up the wing and the flair he brought to the game with his dribbling gave the Orange a much needed boost going forward.
In the 2nd half Syracuse would outshoot Boston College 14-3 and forced Brennan Klein to make 4 saves in the half. Credit to the Eagle defense. Once they grabbed the lead, they maintained an incredible defensive shape that made it extremely difficult for Syracuse to get clean looks at goal. The 65th minute would give Syracuse the break they needed. After drawing a penalty inside the box Kocevski was calm, cool and collected with an easy looking finish to beat Klein. In the final few minutes Lorenzo Boselli, Nathan Opoku and Abdi Salim all had chances to put the Orange ahead but the points were meant to be shared.
Duke, Syracuse and Virginia had all secured byes for the first round of the ACC Tournament before Friday. Duke was the only team of the three to win with UVA drawing 2-2 with North Carolina. The first round will be on Wednesday with these match ups:
- Clemson vs Notre Dame
- Louisville vs Virginia Tech
- Pittsburgh vs NC State
- North Carolina vs Boston College
On Sunday Duke will play the winner of match 1, Wake Forest the winner of match 2, Virginia the winner of match 3 and Syracuse the winner of match 4. The lower seed will host until the championship which means Syracuse could host two tournament games.
The Orange did not face the Tar Heels during the regular season, but they were 2-2-4 in conference. They tied with the Eagles in Massachusetts on the 21st of October which should set the stage for a battle. I think with the week of rest and the way Syracuse played in the 2nd half they should feel confident about their chances if Boston College were to win. When it comes to North Carolina they are a bit of an unknown, but the Tar Heels were 0-2-2 against ranked opponents this season.