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Syracuse goalkeeper Russell Shealy pressed up to half field as his teammates took advantage of St. Francis’ low press game. Shealy yelled for his teammates to increase the pressure and continue to gain possession as he and Syracuse’s three center backs lingered in the SU zone waiting for St. Francis’ strikers to gain possession and challenge the net.

Syracuse (2-7-4, 0-6-3 Atlantic Coast) secured its second shutout of the season against St. Francis (0-3) with high offensive press combined with heavy possession from the Syracuse defense.

Syracuse controlled the St. Francis zone after a long ball off the kick off into St. Francis territory opened the game and crowded their half of the field. The Orange’s forwards and midfielders were in control for most of the first half, leaving Sondre Norheim, Kyle Gruno, and Olu Oyegunle lingering on defense.

Throughout the half, Hilli Goldhar, Deandre Kerr and Manel Busquets shuffled through the St. Francis’ defense, pressuring its defenders to notch several shots on goal.

Even after unsuccessful chances in the box, the Orange were able to keep the pressure on the St. Francis’ defense. Busquets took a shot on goal that hit the crossbar while Noah Singelmann continued to pressure the St. Francis’ defense, and won the ball off the rebound. Singelmann found a clear opening to the net, took a shot and fired at St. Francis’ goalkeeper Jonas Dieseler.

Goldhar forced St. Francis to lose the ball out of bounds later in the first half. Head coach Ian McIntyre rushed to get the ball, bumped a St. Francis player out of the way, scooped the ball and tossed it to Goldhar for the throw-in to build off the momentum of the high press.

Following the throw in, Syracuse received a free kick on the left side just beyond the 16-yard box off. Singelmann sent in a cross and Busquets connected with a header but wasn’t able to put the ball on the frame as it ended up being too strong and went over the net.

Syracuse’s pressure proved effective when Simon Triantafillou won the ball off a pass in the midfield from St. Francis. He passed the ball forward to Kerr who took big touches to blow by the first defender. Kerr then used a step over to bait the second one before driving the ball into the lower left side of the net for Syracuse’s — and the game’s — only goal.

After Kerr’s goals, St. Francis played into Syracuse’s high press and countered Syracuse’s attack. On the first attack, McIntrye yelled to his team not to foul outside the box. But moments later Oyegunle failed to win the ball and fouled. St. Francis took a free kick outside of the 16-yard box, aimed and fired directly to Shealy who made the save.

Oyegunle improved on St. Francis’ second counter, and made a tackle inside the box without fouling and blocked the St. Francis defender from taking a shot. Syracuse’s pressure and movement on offense fatigued St. Francis toward the end of the first frame.

“We kind of took something out of them with our ball movement in the first half,” McIntyre said.

Following a slow start to the second half, Gruno received the ball at midfield and pushed the ball up to generate offense. He slipped past several St. Francis defenders, tip-toed his way to just outside the 16-yard box, sent the ball to Kerr, who missed an open shot.

Still, St. Francis held back on its press while Syracuse’s back three created chances by skipping long balls over the midfielder to Kerr.

“St. Francis had one striker that was trying to press three of (the defenders),” Kerr said. “Because of that, the center backs had more time on the ball, that way they could look up and pick their passes much better without a lot of pressure.”

In the 79th minute and searching for the equalizer, St. Francis shifted gears from a low press game to an aggressive, high press. St. Francis’ forward Jeff Thielmann applied pressure on Syracuse’s back three, who shuffled the ball in the Syracuse zone. Thielmann tried to intercept the ball — in a final opportunity to score — but missed as Syracuse cleared the zone.

The Orange held St. Francis to four shots and one corner kick the entire game by applying pressure up top and remaining in possession for the majority of the game.

“Defensively, we’ve been getting pretty strong,” Kerr said. “We kept a shutout against UNC and now another one. Being able not to concede goals, that’s the most important thing.”

Published on March 30, 2021 at 9:06 pm

Contact Adam: amccaffe@syr.edu