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Two years removed from its first College Cup and second Atlantic Coast Conference championship, Syracuse (7-6-3, 2-4-2 ACC) had a mediocre 2024 regular season. Though the Orange won one more regular season game than in 2023, they fared much worse in ACC play.

SU lost four games in conference play, its most since 2021, finishing in 12th place. Its offense lacked firepower, with no player scoring more than three goals while ranking 11th in goals per game.

The Orange boast a youthful squad with 13 freshmen and it showed this season, as they struggled to hold onto leads early in conference play. As a result, it didn’t win an ACC game until Oct. 5. The second didn’t come until an upset of then-No. 3 Pittsburgh last Friday.

The result gives Syracuse much-needed momentum entering the ACC Tournament as its worst seed since 2017. The Orange are in a do-or-die scenario if they want to make the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year.

Here’s what to know about SU’s path to a third ACC Tournament title:

First Round: No. 5 Seed Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons stunned Syracuse on Sept. 27 with a comeback win. Sam Layton put the Orange in front in the 66th minute. But just over 10 minutes later, Wake Forest scored two goals in two minutes to prevail.

SU head coach Ian McIntyre praised Wake Forest, saying it was his preseason pick to win the conference. Since the Demon Deacons took down the Orange, they won seven of their last eight games.

Wake Forest is led by a stout backline. Its seven goals allowed in the ACC are tied with NC State for the lowest in the conference. The Demon Deacons have recorded six shutouts while only allowing multiple goals once since Sept. 6.

On the attacking side, the Demon Deacons are less potent. Their leading goal scorers, Cooper Flax and Babacar Niang, each have just four. They’ve also been shut out four times during ACC play and scored a mere eight goals.

Hannah Mesa | Design Editor

Quarterfinal: No. 4 Seed SMU or No. 13 Boston College

Syracuse didn’t play SMU this season, while it had a 1-1 draw with BC on Sept. 6. The Mustangs are the more potent of the two teams, putting together a much better resume.

SMU seamlessly fit into the ACC this season. Since a 3-1 loss to Pitt in its conference opener, it lost just one game. Even though the Mustangs scored the second-most goals (16) during conference play, they also allowed the second-most.

The No. 4 seed accumulated a 2-2-3 record against ranked opponents this season, including a 1-0 win over then-No. 6 Saint Louis. But on Oct. 19, SMU suffered its worst defeat of the season, falling 5-1 to then-No. 23 NC State.

Meanwhile, BC doesn’t pose much of a threat. The Eagles have lost five straight ACC Tournament games since 2016 when they made it to the Semifinal. In the past six seasons, they’ve gone 7-28-13 in the ACC, recording multiple wins just twice.

The Eagles’ 23 total goals this season are the third-lowest total in the ACC while goalkeeper Brennan Klein has the third-most saves per game in the conference (3.33). BC is coming off a stunning 1-0 road upset of then-No. 8 North Carolina in its regular-season finale.

Semifinal: No. 1 Seed Pitt, No. 8 Seed NC State or No. 9 Seed Virginia

SU’s most monumental victory of the season came against Pitt, which entered the matchup needing just a point to seal the ACC regular-season title. Even though the Panthers fell, they still clinched the title for the first time in program history after Clemson tied Virginia Tech.

Pitt is led by forward Luis Sahmkow, whose nine goals rank sixth in the ACC. Sahmkow has 27 goal contributions in 33 career games with the Panthers. On Sahmkow’s goals, Guilherme Feitosa often sets him up. Feitosa led the ACC with nine assists while also scoring three times.

Unlike Pitt, Syracuse was handily beaten by Virginia this season. The Cavaliers easily defeated the Orange 3-0 on Oct. 19. UVA started ACC play poorly, going winless through four games, but gained momentum late, losing just one out of its last four.

The same could be said about NC State, which Syracuse didn’t play this season. The Wolfpack won just one out of their first five games but finished strong. NC State scored the fifth-most goals (32) while allowing 16 total, the fourth-best mark in the conference.

Final: Most likely: No. 2 Seed Clemson or No. 3 Seed Duke

Syracuse has plenty of history with Clemson. At the 2015 College Cup Semifinal, the Tigers defeated the Orange in penalty kicks. Seven years later, SU got revenge with a 2-0 win to secure its second ACC Championship.

The two programs have consistently been at the top of the ACC recently. However, Clemson has a clear advantage this season. Less than two weeks ago, Syracuse suffered its worst defeat under McIntyre, a 6-1 loss to the Tigers. Michael Acquah was sent off in the first half and the Orange were clearly outmatched.

Clemson registered the fourth-most shots per game in the ACC (15.81) and scored the second-most goals (2.81). It also enters the tournament as one of the hottest teams, winning six out of their last seven games while outscoring opponents 26-9.

The Tigers’ offense is only second fiddle to Duke in the ACC. Looking deeper, the Blue Devils’ offensive numbers are slightly inflated. They lead the conference and country with 55 goals, yet 24 came against Howard and Division III Averett University.

Even with those two outliers, Duke remains a formidable challenge. It only dropped one ACC game, falling 1-0 to North Carolina on Sept. 16. Duke won three of its last four ACC matches, including a dominant 4-0 showing over Notre Dame in its regular-season finale.

Published on November 5, 2024 at 9:49 pm

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