Syracuse men’s soccer held to draw by Louisville

The No. 4 Syracuse men’s soccer team played a fiery 2-2 draw against No. 7 Louisville Cardinals, a top-10 ACC matchup, in front of a packed hill and an electric Otto’s Army.

The Orange held a 2-1 lead for the bulk of the second half but conceded in the 89th minute, ending the game 2-2.

Syracuse dominated against Louisville, a team having their best-ever start to a season under the tenure of head coach John Michael Hayden. The Orange outshot the Cardinals 19-8 but both teams had five shots on goal. 

“I think when…we find spaces, we are probably the best [team] in the country,” said senior midfielder Lorenzo Boselli. “We got connection, we got skills, we got everything it takes to beat the opponent. We had to be more clinical today, but that’s how it is in soccer sometimes.”

Syracuse came out aggressive, immediately putting pressure on the Louisville defense. The game quickly became a chippy, physical contest. The 90 minutes contained 24 fouls, 16 of which were committed by the Cardinals, and six yellow cards.  

The Orange had a few chances early, but Louisville drew first blood. Sloppy defending in the 35th minute resulted in the Orange giving up possession deep in its own half. Brandon McManus took advantage and found Gage Guerra, who launched a rocket into the bottom-left corner and gave the Cardinals a short-lived lead.

A minute later, SU Soccer Stadium erupted after a no-penalty call, when Boselli was seemingly taken down in the penalty area. Moments later, sophomore forward Nicholas Kaloukian was fouled in the box as he attempted to control a loose ball resulting from a poor Cardinal clearance. 

After a review on the play, Boselli took a penalty and leveled the game from the spot.  

The Orange dominated the rest of the half, making good on this in the 35th minute by producing a blistering attack up the left, which ended with senior midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski slipping the ball into the path of junior midfielder Mateo Leveque, who smashed the Orange ahead in front of an ecstatic Otto’s Army.

“Coach actually asked me to go more forward,” said Leveque. “I tried my best to go more forward today, and I tried to get a balance between coming down, getting on the ball, getting into the box to score goals.” 

Photo by Diana Valdivia

Syracuse men’s soccer captain, Lorenzo Boselli (10), during match against Louisville at the SU Soccer Stadium on Fright night.

The Orange started the second half exactly how they ended the previous. Syracuse countered efficiently through Kaloukian, who tormented Cardinal defenders all half long.  

The Orange, however, began to run out of steam. As legs tired, Louisville cranked the pressure back up with a pair of corners in the 70^th minute. Syracuse nearly extended their lead twice after this but failed to secure the victory. 

SU Soccer Stadium held its breath in the 89^th minute when the referee indicated he would be conducting video review on a Cardinal attack that had been called for a corner. After upholding the decision, the whistle blew, and Louisville tied the game from the corner off a goal from Guerra. 

“We score a third goal; we win this game. [There are] a couple of moments where we’ll look back and probably be a little bit disappointed we didn’t close the door on them,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “But then you know, that’s good teams and in our league, you get punished.” 

Boselli added that the team expects ACC games to be more difficult and will be ready for following opponents. “We know these games are tough and we got a target on our backs. Every game is going to be like this. We are ready for it,” he said.  

The Orange will finish their run of home matches against Siena at SU Soccer Stadium on Tuesday. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.