Syracuse Men’s Soccer NCAA Tournament Preview
It is now the second round of the NCAA tournament. At this point there isn’t a ton to learn about the playstyle or quality of the remaining teams considering how many games they’ve played, but some teams are built for the challenge of the tournament and others aren’t. The ACC had a few teams prove themselves to not be built for long run having teams start 1-3 in round one. I am still convinced that Pitt should have advanced further in the ACC tournament, but they, the lone ACC team to win, started strong against Cleveland St. winning 2-1 and controlling the majority of play. They did have some trouble staying onside but overall put together a solid performance to book themselves a date with Akron.
North Carolina was the first team to fall and they had their chances but just couldn’t get enough of them on frame. On the other hand High Point took advantage of their few chances and were more clinical. In a game that saw 35 total fouls called Ohio State put the hammer down against Wake Forest to end the Demon Deacons season. The Buckeyes scored in the 2nd and 16thminutes of the game while outshooting Wake Forest 9-2 in the 1sthalf which put them in a comfortable position with 45 to play. Wake took 8 shots in the 2nd half, but it was the 53rd minute goal from Thomas Gilej that put the game on ice for the Buckeyes.
The final and most predictable of the ACC losses was Louisville. Ever since their 3-0 loss to Wake Forest this team has been disappointing to say the very least. Following their first round exit in the ACC tournament they had to play a 2OT match against Western Michigan and Louisville was outlasted in 37 shot shootout. 8 saves from Western Michigan keeper Hunter Morse gave the Cardinals fits and put the Broncos into the next round. Aside from Ohio State two other teams caught my eye. The first is Syracuse’s next opponent in UPenn. The Ivy League champs dominated Rutgers for 90 minutes and deservedly won 3-0. Their game was similar to OSU where they were able to score in just the 2nd minute of the game, found their insurance goal before the end of the half and put the game away while playing more defensively in the 2nd half. The tournament committee didn’t agree but Maryland being the 6th ranked team in the country and not getting a first round bye is insane. Fairleigh Dickinson did their best, but they got the hardest draw of any team in that first round and the 5 goals the Terps scored are evidence enough. Maryland, if they can beat Cornell, will be a tricky third round foe.
Now for the match between the Orange and the Quakers. UPenn is 13-2-2 on the year with a 6-1 record in conference and a 6-0 record at home. Their only negative results have come on the road this year, but they still have managed 7 road victories. Their most notable wins this year are a 6-1 win over fellow tournament team Fairleigh Dickinson, a 3-2 nail bitter against #15 Cornell and their first round win against the Big Ten champs Rutgers.
Penn has had their success for similar reasons as Syracuse. They score plenty and concede very few. They have scored 43 goals this season while only allowing 12. They don’t need countless shots or opportunities to score much like the Orange. Syracuse against North Carolina only had one shot on goal but that was enough. UPenn has a similar capability and has put over 45% of their shots on frame this season which means Shealy will be tested. This team is also very disciplined. They have only received 21 yellow cards all season to go with 163 fouls compared to Syracuse’s 39 yellows and 304 fouls.
The Quakers have quite a few players to keep an eye on going forward starting with Ben Stitz and Stas Korzeniowski. Both of them have 11 goals on the year and have managed 13 assists between the two of them. Stitz stands out because of his efficiency as the Baltimore native has put just shy of 52% of his shots on target. Michael Hewes is also a consistent feature in the scoring column having accumulated 6 goals on the season. As a creator watch out for Charlie Gaffney who has seven assists out of the midfield.
For Syracuse to stop a team with the talent and quality that UPenn brings they are going to have to first of all brave the weather. It’s supposed to 30 degrees with around 30 mph winds. That is going to put extra pressure on the hands on Shealy and is going to also make this grass field a much harder surface than normal. Having had practice indoors a few days this week that could be a factor. The most important thing for the Orange, and they will say it themselves, is to stick to what has worked. They have had their best season in recent memory and have an ACC title because of the game plans the coaching staff has rolled out and the quality up and down the roster. The backline of Olu Oyegunle, Christian Curti and Abdi Salim have to do what they have all season. If Curti can lock down the middle of the field with a hand from Amferny Sinclair while Olu and Abdi take care of the wings alongside their talented wingbacks and defensively they should be good. Going forward they have the incredible pair of Levonte Johnson and Nathan Opoku which are always threats to score, but it might come down to other guys if those two get keyed on. Lorenzo Boselli has score in two consecutive games for Syracuse in the biggest moments including a game tying goal at the end of the regulation against Virginia. Giona Leibold is going to have to create and provide width and guys like Colin Biros and Curt Calov are going to have to create chances. The hope is too that defensively they can get Buster Sjoberg back who, according to coach, was still day-to-day on Friday.
The final thing I want to look at is a few other games to watch outside of the Syracuse game. First is Maryland and Cornell. Again, Maryland should have gotten a bye in this tournament and Cornell is the team that will pay for that decision as Maryland should have enough to get a win on the road. Another game to watch is Creighton and #2 seeded Washington as the Huskies will have to stop the leading goal scorer in the country in Duncan McGuire who has 19 goals this year. There are two other teams, the T-9 ranked teams in Denver and Marshall, that could upset seeded teams today. Marshall takes on UVA who I personally hate to watch. They push to get ahead early and then sit back to kill time which tends not to work against relentless attacks like the one Syracuse brought in the ACC tournament. If Marshall can keep them uncomfortable by scoring early or keeping it level, then Virginia will have to play on their front foot which goes against what they want to do. The other game to watch, possibly the best one, is Duke vs Denver. Not only are both these two teams in the top 10 but both these two teams are in the top 5 in goals against average. This should be a defensive battle and it will be interesting to see what kind of Duke team shows up following their first loss of the season against Clemson.