No. 4 Syracuse held to 2-2 draw after conceding late equalizer from No. 7 Louisville
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Down by one with two minutes to play, Sander Roed lined up one last corner kick for Louisville. The midfielder delivered a dangerous ball into the penalty box for Gage Guerra, who tapped in a Cardinal equalizer to silence the Syracuse faithful.
No. 4 SU’s (3-0-2, 0-0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) offense dominated throughout the first half but slowly faded away in its 2-2 draw with No. 7 Louisville (4-0-1, 0-0-1 ACC). After allowing a goal from the Cardinals in the 10th minute, the Orange attack countered with two goals on 12 unanswered shots to snatch the lead. The visitors, however, stifled Syracuse’s offense from there. Guerra’s second goal in the 89th minute helped UL escape SU Soccer Stadium with a tie.
“We score a third goal, we win this game. A couple of moments where we’ll look back and be a little disappointed we didn’t close the door on [Louisville], but that’s a good team,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said.
Before its late-game surge, Louisville held all the momentum early on. The Cardinals earned the game’s first corner kick three minutes in, which Olu Oyegunle snuffed out by heading the ball out of bounds.
In the 10th minute, the visitors took a 1-0 lead. Brandon McManus took charge with the ball a few steps outside the 18-yard box. McManus found Guerra alone inside the penalty area, who swept a strike past a diving Jason Smith.
But the Orange provided the tying goal just over a minute later. On a threatening attack, Nicholas Kaloukian earned a penalty after avoiding an errant tackle from a Cardinal defender. Lorenzo Boselli took the spot kick, executing his signature slight stutter step which made opposing goalkeeper Alex Svetanoff dive to his right. Boselli went the opposite way, slotting a shot into the bottom right corner.
Thirty-two minutes in, Orange defender Josh Belluz charged forward, intercepting a pass deep in Cardinal territory. Belluz then found a darting Kocevski, who played a pass forward to Leveque. The UConn transfer set his feet and smashed a confident left-footed strike inside the right post for the go-ahead goal. Leveque’s first goal of his SU career gave it a 2–1 advantage.
“I’m in the box so they can’t touch me. Otherwise, it’s a PK,” Leveque said. “So I just relaxed, took my first touch and scored.”
Leveque continued to torment Louisville’s backline for the rest of the first half. In the 42nd minute, he latched onto a pass from Kaloukian but sent one just wide of the target. Leveque helped the Orange take 12 consecutive shots to end the first 45 minutes.
At the start of the second half, Felipe D’Agostini suffered a hard tackle and Kaloukian took a crunching challenge to the stomach. On Louisville’s first scoring chance of the half, Oyegunle muscled his way into McManus and stole possession away.
“When (Louisville’s) they’re playing their best, they get in a rhythm and they’re passing. We did a good job of disrupting a very good Louisville team tonight,” McIntyre said.
In the 53rd minute, D’Agostini tapped a pass off an opposing defender to set the Orange up for their ninth corner kick. But a miscommunication in the box cause Gabriel Mikina to miss high. Soon after, Mikina returned the favor, sending a deep pass to D’Agostini with another chance to extend the lead. Yet, just like Mikina, D’Agostini watched in agony as his shot sailed high.
Despite a lull in offense, SU’s defense remained strong throughout most of the second half. In the 62nd minute, Smith punched away a free kick by Roed. Two minutes later, an unsuccessful clearance by the Orange gave Quinton Elloit a chance to score. Mikina sprinted to gain ground on the opposing defender, getting his leg in the way of an accurate shot.
Syracuse’s final chance to extend its 2-1 lead came in the 87th minute when Kaloukian darted to the near left post. The forward’s header went wildly out of play.
Looking poised to hold onto its advantage, defenders Buster Sjoburg and Gavin Wigg stole and deflected Louisville’s passes consistently. It was not until a corner kick with 1:39 left on the clock that the Cardinals would answer off Guerra’s right foot.
“We’ve been on the other side of these late goals,” McIntyre said. “You’re disappointed. You’ve worked so hard and I think over the 90 minutes, I thought we deserved it. But Louisville’s a terrific team.”
