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Jeorgio Kocevski walked towards the sideline with his hands on his head and ran his hands through his hair. 

As soon as he reached the sideline, Amferny Sinclair – out injured – placed his hand on Kocevski’s back and gave him some words of advice. As the exasperated Kocevski walked down the sideline, several players from the bench gave him pats on the back.

But despite being consoled from his teammates, the damage was done. Just 22 minutes in, Kocevski picked up his second yellow card of the match and was sent off. Already without midfield anchor Sinclair, Syracuse was down to 10 men. 

No. 3 Syracuse (7-1-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) made it through 85 minutes with 10 men, but ultimately, Virginia (6-3, 2-1 ACC) broke through and handed the Orange their first loss of the year, 1-0. With Sinclair out for the whole match and Kocevski in the locker room for the majority of it, the Orange struggled to generate their usually plentiful number of chances on the attacking end. They registered just three shots on target, their second-lowest total of the season. 

Both sides combined to pick up ten yellow cards – by far the most in a match this season for Syracuse. By the end of the match, six Cavaliers were playing on yellows, but Kocevski was the only player to be sent off. 

He picked up his first yellow while pressuring Virginia midfielder Albin Gashi on the ball in the 8th minute. He grabbed Gashi’s shirt as he tried to run downfield and when Gashi fell to the grass, Kocevski was cautioned.

16 minutes later, Kocevski picked up another cheap card. He shoved Axel Ahlander from behind just after he released the ball near the middle of the park – an unnecessary foul but still a questionable play to be sent off on.

After the match, Syracuse coach Ian McIntyre said he was disappointed in the yellow cards shown.

With Sinclair out, Christian Curti started in the defensive midfield with Kocevski. He was tasked with filling the void left by the Costa Rican midfielder, who had started 13 matches in a row dating back to last season. 

“Once he got sent off, I thought to myself, ‘Now I really have to step up,’” Kocevski said. “Before, I had [Kocevski] talking to me, helping me out.”

Despite playing out of position, Curti linked the defense and midfield well and McIntyre praised his performance after the match. 

Virginia played very wide and tried to spread Syracuse out as often as it could. Down a man and spread out, Syracuse couldn’t pressure the ball like it has all year. Virginia had noticeably more time on the ball than almost any other opponent this season. 

“It’s pretty tough with a team like that when they’re patient on the ball (and) don’t force much,” Curti said. “So we kind of just tried to keep our shape, work together and communicate a lot. That’s all you can really do.”

The Cavaliers ripped off 14 shots, the second-most the Orange have allowed this year. They consistently pressured Syracuse in the final third and the Orange backline cleared ball after ball from the penalty box.

Curti played the final 26 minutes of the match on a yellow card. Both Curti and McIntyre said the Orange defense had to be careful to not overcommit on tackles because the referee had such a ready whistle. 

The Orange nearly made it all the way with 10 men and played well enough to end with a scoreless tie, but Kocevski’s ejection finally caught up to them in the final minutes. 

“The devastating thing for our guys is we were so close to getting to the finish line,” McIntyre said.

Published on September 25, 2022 at 12:11 am

Contact Connor: cpignate@syr.edu