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Jeorgio Kocevski received the ball with his back facing the Georgetown net. He turned toward the net, surveying his options while near the top of the penalty box. Kocevski was shut down by Daniel Wu, but Wu’s clearance only made it as far as Noah Singelmann, roughly five yards away.

Singelmann immediately found Luke Biasi out wide to his right. Biasi’s first touch was into space, setting himself up for a looming right-footed cross that found the head of Colin Biros. Biros redirected the ball inches away from the right post for Syracuse’s best chance of Friday’s game.

SU has relied on services like that from its width in each of its first games this season. The role of the wingbacks on a new, young Orange roster is something that can determine a win or loss for Syracuse, and it all depends on the work rate of Biasi and fellow wingback Giona Leibold.

Biasi and Leibold were essential to Syracuse’s (1-2) 3-5-2 system despite a 1-0 loss against No. 2 Georgetown (3-0). Syracuse managed nearly twice as much final third possession compared to Georgetown, with 28% and 30% in each respective half. Head coach Ian McIntyre believed SU won the battle out wide, despite falling short on the scoresheet.

“We’re asking a lot of Luke and Giona as our wingbacks against (Georgetown’s) 4-4-2,” McIntyre said. “This is a really good Georgetown team, and this was a good college game.”

In Syracuse’s 3-5-2, Biasi and Leibold act as the wide players of that midfield five. They run as far up the field as they can when Syracuse is on the ball and track back defensively when the Orange are under pressure, hence acting as a fourth and fifth defender.

With Biasi and Leibold still up the field, a quick restart by the Hoyas sent Dante Polvara surging through midfield and rushing toward the only two Syracuse defenders still in a good defensive position. Polvara split the pair of Orange center backs with a through ball that found the right foot of John Franks at the top of the penalty box. Syracuse goalkeeper Russell Shealy rushed off his line to close down Franks’ angle, but Franks easily played it around him, finding the bottom right corner. 

It took Georgetown 57 minutes to break through Syracuse’s defense. Christian Curti was up high pressing Polvara, and the wingbacks were still up the field generating offense for SU. 

After stopping Georgetown’s second midfield rush in the game’s first 15 minutes, Syracuse’s Buster Sjoberg gathered the ball near his own penalty box. He immediately looked to play Leibold high up the left wing and into space.

Leibold’s first touch went 15 yards in front of him, past the Hoyas’ defender in his way. But that didn’t impede the freshman wingback from getting to the ball. He used his pace to get a touch on his self pass and dribbled down the left touchline. Leibold looked ahead for a cross into the penalty box and played it into a sea of six gray jerseys as SU’s Deandre Kerr stood at the top of the box, being the Orange’s only option.

“I love those guys a lot because they put in so much work defensively, but they also have to run forward and get balls in the box for me,” Kerr said. “When I see them working as hard as they do, it just makes me want to work even harder and get on the end of their crosses.”

In the 21st minute, Franks took on Leibold along the far-sided touchline and dribbled inward toward the penalty box. His service was played into Will Sands, who passed the ball for a point-blank shot for Stefan Stojanovic, who was six yards from goal. As he got his shot off, Biasi sprinted into the play out of nowhere, making a sliding tackle across the left side of Stojanovic’s body to redirect the shot wide past the far post.

In the closing minutes, Sjoberg was given a direct red card for a reckless sliding tackle. He will miss SU’s next game, potentially altering McIntyre’s preferred 3-5-2 starting formation. But with a close game against one of the nation’s top teams, McIntyre believes this Syracuse team is ready to compete with any program on its schedule.

“This has been a big week for us to test ourselves and measure ourselves against two quality programs in Penn State and in Georgetown,” McIntyre said. “In order to prepare us for the rigors that are going to come down the road in the ACC, we felt that this was the best approach and I don’t second guess that.”

Published on September 3, 2021 at 11:46 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu