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With 20 seconds left in regulation, Notre Dame finally earned its first corner. It hadn’t threatened Syracuse all game and was desperate to find an equalizer. ND goalkeeper Bryan Dowd even ran up for the corner to give the Fighting Irish an extra man on its best chance.

But ND couldn’t convert as No. 24 Syracuse (4-0-1, 1-0-0 Atlantic Coast) squeaked away with a narrow 1-0 victory over No. 22 Notre Dame (1-2-1, 0-1-0 ACC), a team who advanced to the Final Four a season ago. The Orange dominated offensively, outshooting the Fighting Irish 22-3 with nine of those attempts on target.

Despite the many opportunities, SU’s one score came midway through the first half. Forward Nathan Opoku had possession in the right-center outside the 18. Midfielder Giona Leibold made a streaking run from the left and Opoku played a simple ground ball crossfield where not a single ND defender was in closing distance as Leibold slottled in his first goal of the season.

“The 5-0 game against UConn probably flattered us a little bit, the scoreline, everyone looks at that,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “Sometimes a 1-0 game is more than a 1-0 game. Sometimes (the shots) go in, sometimes they don’t. But we created quality chances.”

The Orange continued to create several scoring opportunities and possession was mostly held in the Fighting Irish’s defensive half. In the 13th minute, Levonte Johnson received the ball in the box and laid it off for Opoku who dribbled in a tight space but consequently gave himself a narrow angle resulting in an easy save for Dowd.

Opoku, who leads the Orange with four goals and six points thus far, got six shots off with four on target. In the 18th minute, midfielder Colin Biros laid off the ball to Opoku near the top left of the box and the Ghana native sent a bending ball that grazed the crossbar and bounced back into the play.

Later in the first half, Opoku and Leibold clashed heads, resulting in Leibold’s premature departure from the match. Opoku returned, however, continuing to ignite SU’s attack which dominated possession just like it did in its first win over a ranked opponent against then-No. 21 Penn State. Syracuse registered 29 shots in that match, but only tallied one goal in the 80th minute from Biros.

Similarly, the Orange’s defense on Saturday rarely let any major attacking plays develop. The team has utilized a few centerback combinations because Salim is still slowly returning to full form from a small injury suffered in the win over Iona.

“(The) defense has been unbelievable, not only today, but the past couple of weeks,” midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski said. “We’ve only conceded one goal in the first five games.”

In contrast to Syracuse, the Fighting Irish struggled to create chances. Out of its three shots, one was on frame, which came as result of a sloppy SU turnover.

Abdi Salim received a pass in SU’s defensive half just outside the 18, but didn’t recognize ND’s forwards behind him when he turned. The Fighting Irish almost capitalized on the mistake as Matthew Roou drove to the center of the box, but the ensuing shot went right to SU goalkeeper Russell Shealy, who finished with just one save.

“As long as we keep that clean sheet in the back and win the game, that’s pretty important,” Kocevski said. “We always want to improve so obviously there’s areas to improve on.”

Notre Dame had a couple of set piece opportunities as well, mostly stemming from one of the Orange’s 19 fouls. None of the free kicks were threatening as the majority ended up going right to the gloves of Shealy.

Besides Opoku, forward Francesco Pagano provided a spark for the Orange off the bench. The substitute registered four shots with one on target. His best opportunity came in the first half when he received the ball around the PK spot, turned and launched a strike. It was deflected, however, and went over top of the goal for one of the Orange’s six corners.

In the game’s final minutes, Syracuse attempted to keep the ball in the corners, forcing throw-in after throw-in. But eventually, Notre Dame managed to keep possession in the Orange’s defensive half. Paddy Burns dribbled from the left side into the 18, but his shot was blocked for a corner, which would ultimately just be another missed opportunity as Syracuse is now unbeaten in five games.

“Today was another step on our journey. Our first ACC test,” McIntyre said. “We still got a lot of soccer ahead of ourselves, but to find a way to get that result today was important.”

Published on September 10, 2022 at 5:43 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini