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As Levonte Johnson, Jeorgio Kocevski and the rest of the Syracuse lineup celebrated its upset win on Sept. 16, there were multiple Clemson players that could only watch in dismay. The then-No. 1 Tigers were already missing their top scorer in Ousmane Sylla, who was out with an injury.

While Isaiah Reid got on the board with an early goal, the Tigers struggled to generate chances, eventually having eight fewer shots than the Orange. Sylla, a first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference player, was completely resigned to the sidelines.

But this time, Sylla got first-hand experience in defeat to No. 2 seed Syracuse (14-2-4, 6-1-2 ACC), who won the championship match 2-0. As the ACC Tournament commenced, No. 8 seed Clemson (13-6-1, 3-4-1 ACC) returned to full strength, heading into the championship against No. 2-seeded Syracuse.

The Tigers had the exact same lineup for three straight conference matchups — the only time this had occurred for them all season. But with an aggressive, high backline, the Orange kept Sylla and the Tigers scoreless. On the other end, SU took advantage of fortunate bounces and consistently sent hard shots toward Joseph Andema to win its first ACC title since 2015.

“We’ve had some wonderful tussles with Clemson through the years,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “It’s nice for us to be back in this kind of game. I thought we were terrific today.”

Following the loss to the Orange, Andema returned with back-to-back shutouts against North Carolina and Presbyterian. Andema dominated down the stretch and into postseason play. In the last four games, he only conceded a single score, blanking both top-seeded Duke and No. 4-seeded Wake Forest.

Andema didn’t have to worry about the Orange early on. SU forward Levonte Johnson sent two wide shots in the first four minutes, but otherwise Syracuse didn’t generate anything. Andema only slipped up after the Orange scored on a pinball goal.

SU’s Nathan Opoku sent a crossing pass that got fellow attacking transfer Lorenzo Boselli. Boselli tried to get a touch on it, but Clemson’s Joseph Skinner tried to make a clearance that hit off of Boselli and Hamady Diop, leading to a wide-open shot for Boselli. Boselli got Andema to dive to his right, but buried the shot straight down the middle. Not even 20 minutes later, the Orange jumped on Andema again.

“I realized that the ball was there, and I had no one in front of me. I realized, ‘Alright, I have to score this,’ and then I scored it,” Boselli said.

Alvaro Gomez had a set piece right outside Syracuse’s 18. The SU wall of defenders blocked the shot, setting up a quick counter attack with Curt Calov leading the charge. The sprinting Calov sent a ball back to the left to Giona Leibold.

Andema moved up from the net to try and counter the Orange midfielder, but Leibold’s shot just slightly tapped Andema’s glove and went into the net.

“We’ve got to play to the Clemson standard in terms of ball possession,” Tigers head coach Mike Noonan said. “I should have emphasized it more in practice…we’ve got to retain the ball a little bit more. When we do that, we’re a really good team.”

While Andema and his fellow Clemson defenders pleaded for an offside call, none came and Syracuse now had a two-goal advantage. Andema ended the first half by angrily punting the ball away from the net even after the clock reached triple zeros. The Orange continued to pepper chances toward the freshman keeper throughout the second half as well, finishing the match with three more shots than the Tigers.

Still, Syracuse had to deal with Sylla, who led the Tigers with five goals as well as 17 points, tied for seventh-best in the ACC. Following Boselli’s goal, Sylla and the Tigers advanced down the pitch, only to be stood up by the Orange backline. Enrique Montana III had a throw-in after Sylla lost an aerial battle to Olu Oyegunle, who headed the ball out of bounds.

Sylla tried to retrieve the throw-in, which went far past both Sylla and the Syracuse defenders. He regained his composure for a moment, trying to fire a shot toward SU keeper Russell Shealy. But thanks to an aggressive double team from Abdi Salim and Christian Curti, Sylla’s only recorded shot of the afternoon slowly petered toward Shealy.

McIntyre said that the Orange were focused on not allowing Clemson get into its rhythm. He noted that when the fullbacks — Skinner and Montana — got involved in moving the transition attack forward, that’s when the Tigers’ attack thrived.

Early in the first half, Amferny Sinclair charged toward the center line, but Sylla stole the ball from behind. On his run back to get back to Sylla, Sinclair tried to cut off Sylla’s angle. But Sinclair tripped up the forward in transition and the Tigers received a free kick. The physicality stopped Clemson from going anywhere as the ensuing set piece fizzled out.

“You’ve got to be careful when the ball turns over in those transitional moments,” McIntyre said. “You’re not going to keep the caliber of players that Clemson has on that frontline quiet the whole game. But I thought Amferny was awesome.”

With 17 minutes remaining in the game, Mohamed Seye and Sylla ran past the center line, looking to start a give-and-go with each other. But Sylla didn’t even have an opportunity to make a run at the net as Oyegunle and the Orange’s defense remained stout. Diop started to play with much more urgency, sending hastier passes to his teammates. Even when a ball would go behind the net for a Clemson goal kick, Andema rushed to grab it and place it down to generate an opportunity as soon as possible.

At the moment time expired, Sylla fell to the turf as the Orange players and coaching staff celebrated. As Syracuse got to wear its gray, ACC championship T-shirts, Diop, Sylla and Andema all sullenly received their runner-up medals. In the preseason poll, Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre actually picked Clemson to win the conference.

“I picked Clemson to win it at the beginning of the year, because they’re terrific,” McIntyre said. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t think we were talented, we got a good group. And at the end of the day, we know that we’re getting better.”

Published on November 13, 2022 at 6:15 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com