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Levonte Johnson began the Virginia Tech corner kick well inside Syracuse territory right outside the six-yard box. The Hokies took the corner short, before crossing a ball into the box to hulking defender Jack Dearie. Amidst a battle with Abdi Salim, Dearie popped the ball back into the air near the edge of the box and Johnson immediately started towards downfield. As Amferny Sinclair headed the ball downfield to Johnson, the forward commenced a full sprint. 

The counter was on and Johnson was at full speed. Hokie defender Howard Grant charged towards him, but Johnson flicked Sinclair’s pass farther up the field and past Grant, who had to change directions so fast he briefly touched the grass with his hand. With another massive dribble, Johnson sped past midfield with two defenders in front of him and Giona Leibold streaking behind him. 

As he got about 10 yards away from the box, Johnson hesitated and laid the ball off to Leibold on the left flank. A step inside the box, Leibold one-touched the through-ball with his left foot into the bottom corner at the far post.

In the span of just eight seconds, Johnson and Leibold brought the ball from box to box to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute. Known for his blazing speed, Johnson made a living making long runs throughout his collegiate career before transferring to Syracuse this year. Johnson’s pace has spurred Syracuse to wins in earlier matches this season, but this run was his longest, fastest and most electrifying.

“(His speed) slaps you across the face, like wow, look at this kid,” Matt Broadhead, a former coach of Johnson, said.

Thanks to lightning-quick attacks like Johnson’s run, No. 7 Syracuse (8-1-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) defeated Virginia Tech 3-0 (1-8-1, 0-4 ACC) despite heavy rain for the entirety of the match. Leibold, Noah Singelmann and Nathan Opoku all scored off one-touch finishes from play that materialized after a ball in the air. 

Syracuse lost its first match of the season to Virginia on Sept. 24, but against the Hokies, it dwarfed its opponents shot total (21-11) like it has all year. After missing the Virginia match with injury, Amferny Sinclair catalyzed two goals with smart headed passes.

Syracuse scored its second goal of the evening midway through the second half. Russell Shealy’s goal kick was flicked downfield by Salim and headed further downfield by Sinclair. Opoku took the pass and ran all the way to the box before passing it to Colin Biros, who one-touched it to Christian Curti on the wing. Five potential targets flooded the box and Curti picked out Singelmann inside the six. The senior defender notched his first goal of the season from point-blank range. 

Syracuse entered the match with the fewest goals allowed per game in the ACC and only improved upon that mark. Through ten games, the Orange have scored 18 goals and only allowed three, the second-best margin in the ACC behind No. 1 Wake Forest. The Orange’s next conference game is against the Demon Deacons on Oct. 7.

Virginia Tech had a couple threatening chances, but the SU backline held strong and Shealy made four saves. In the 52nd minute, Abdi Salim lost the ball at the back and gifted Virginia Tech one of the best chances Syracuse has allowed all year. The ball ended up with Conor Pugh alone at the penalty spot. Pugh dribbled and sidestepped Olu Oyegunle before shooting at Shealy from point-blank range. Positioned excellently at the edge of the six-yard box, Shealy made a kick-save to deny the Hokies’ best chance of the night.

After evenly splitting time with Lucas Daunhauer last year, Shealy has started all but one match in goal and ranks as one of the country’s best goalkeepers. He is tied for the NCAA lead in clean sheets (6), ranks third in goals against average (0.33) and is tied for fourth in save percentage (.897). 

If the outcome wasn’t already in doubt, Nathan Opoku sealed it with a third goal in the 84th minute. After putting up either a goal or an assist in the first six matches of the year, Opoku had managed just one goal and no assists in his last three. 

Once again, Shealy booted the ball far downfield past the center circle. After a scrum for the ball, Lorenzo Boselli grabbed possession and sent a lobbed through-ball to Camden Holbrook on the left wing. Holbrook found Opoku at the top of the six, and all the forward had to do was redirect the pass into the back of the net to bring Syracuse’s lead to 3-0. For the third time of the match, Syracuse materialized a goal in seconds.

Published on September 30, 2022 at 10:36 pm

Contact Connor: cpignate@syr.edu