Unforced errors prove costly in No. 18 Syracuse’s 3-1 loss to No. 7 UNC in ACC Tournament semifinals
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Syracuse had all the momentum on its side. After Nicholas Kaloukian’s header cut North Carolina’s lead to 2-1, the Orange pressed high. But SU’s aggressiveness came back to bite itself.
An overzealous press led to an opening in the defense. A through ball from UNC forward Quenzi Huerman forced Jeorgio Kocevski to trip recipient Martin Vician from behind. Kocevski received a red card. Vician had a clear look on goal if Kocevski didn’t take him out on a play which completely changed the complexion of the second half.
No. 18 Syracuse (9-5-6, 2-1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) had the chance to make the ACC Tournament Championship in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. But, unforced errors — epitomized by Kocevski’s sending-off — limited the Orange in its 3-1 loss to No. 7 North Carolina (10-3-5, 2-3-3 ACC).
SU’s miscues were punished by the clinical Tar Heels. North Carolina scored three of their six shots on goal, including a dagger in the 70th minute from Vician. The striker’s second goal of the contest put the game out of reach.
Kocevski’s red card was originally deemed a yellow. But the referee, upon immediately getting called to the video monitor, changed his decision to red. On the sideline, all SU head coach Ian McIntyre could do was chuckle.
“I’ve got to go back and have a look at it,” McIntyre said of Kocevski’s red. “It changed the game. We’d gotten back in the game. There was a transitional moment, Jeorgio’s working hard and clips the guy. As I said, it’s difficult to be a referee.”
Syracuse being whittled down to 10 men couldn’t have come at a worse time. Kocevski had just assisted Kaloukian to cut the North Carolina lead in half. Though Syracuse will likely make the NCAA tournament, Kocevski will be suspended for the Orange’s opening game.
But, Syracuse’s mistakes extended further than Kocevski’s costly foul. In the sixth minute, SU goalkeeper Jahiem Wickham, despite being closed down by Vician and Huerman, played a pass to Gabriel Mikina. UNC’s two attackers quickly pounced on Mikina, forcing a turnover. With Buster Sjoberg as the lone defender back for Syracuse, Huerman passed to Vician, who slotted the opening goal past Wickham
“I like our guys being brave, I want us to play but you can’t gift a team of North Carolina’s caliber a goal like that,” McIntyre said about the opening goal.
After going behind early, Syracuse responded strongly. It controlled possession, but outside of a trickling Lorenzo Boselli effort from outside the box, the Orange barely threatened UNC goalkeeper Andrew Cordes. On the other end, North Carolina was efficient.
In the 37th minute, Ernest Bawa carried the ball into Syracuse’s half. Mikina was too late on challenging and Bawa played a perfect ball in between Pablo Pedregosa and Sjoberg for Daniel Kutsch. The attacker took a big touch ahead, bearing down on Wickham before finishing past him to put UNC up 2-0 just before halftime.
For the rest of the first half, Syracuse seemed deflated. Postgame, McIntyre was happy with his team’s overall performance, but his one critique was how Syracuse finished the half.
“My only frustration with our team was after their second goal. I thought we felt sorry for ourselves for about 10 minutes,” McIntyre said.
Kaloukian’s goal, which came from fluid link-up play between Mateo Leveque and Kocevski, garnered praise from McIntyre. He deemed the Orange’s second-half response as “awesome.” Even after Kocevski was sent off, SU still pushed forward. It played through Kaloukian, trying to earn dangerous set pieces in UNC’s final third.
Off of a free kick just outside the box, Leveque sent in a threatening ball which found Mikina at the far post. But his looping header was corralled by Cordes, who finished with eight saves. Syracuse outshot North Carolina 13-11 but were far less efficient.
As Syracuse continued to pour numbers forward in hopes of an equalizer, it conceded a third. Leveque misread a header around midfield, accidentally playing it into the path of Ahmad Al-Qaq, who immediately found Vician.
Before Sjoberg could intervene, Vician rifled a shot off his left foot to the far post past Wickham for his seventh goal of the year. Down to 10-men and facing a two-goal deficit, the mountain proved too large to climb for Syracuse.
“We had to throw numbers forward,” McIntyre said. “The first goal was on us. And they’ve got good players and maybe the difference tonight was them just taking the chances.”
