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Syracuse jumped up one spot in the weekly United Soccer Coaches poll, moving up to No. 4. This is the second-highest ranking SU has placed this season, with the highest coming in the fourth week when it ranked No. 3. The only Atlantic Coast Conference team ranked higher than Syracuse is Duke, which is tied at No. 2 with Washington. 

The Orange won their fifth match against a ranked opponent in a 2-1 victory at then-No. 11 Louisville last week. Nathan Opoku scored his conference-best eighth goal of the year in the 17th minute and Levonte Johnson made the score 2-0 11 minutes later. 

The Syracuse defense initially limited the Cardinals, but it struggled after Jeorgio Kocevski received a red card with over 13 minutes remaining. Louisville got three shots off before Josh Jones cut SU’s lead in half in the 88th minute. But the Orange held off the Cardinals in the final minutes, moving their ACC record to 5-1. 

Syracuse is at the top of the Atlantic division and is currently slated to have home-field advantage for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the ACC Tournament. The Orange have two more conference games against NC State and Boston College before postseason play begins.