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In the 64th minute, Nathan Opoku slipped in a short through ball for Curt Calov into the 18. Calov couldn’t gain possession among a couple Boston College defenders, but Opoku continued his run. Opoku — partially selling — was tripped by CJ Williams, forcing a penalty, which was successfully scored by Jeorgio Kocevski to level the game at 1-1.

The penalty capped off a series of second-half scoring opportunities that SU created. Still, No. 4 Syracuse (12-2-3, 5-1-2 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t find a game-winner in a 1-1 draw against Boston College (4-6-5, 1-4-3 ACC) in both teams’ regular season finales. In the second half, Syracuse had 14 shots compared to its four in the first.

“I thought Boston College started very well,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “Their shape caused us some problems initially. We made a couple of adjustments and I’m very proud of the way that our guys didn’t panic, kept playing (and) got the equalizer.”

Boston College quietly snuck out into the lead early in the first half. After an over-the-top ball to the left side forced SU to clear the ball out for a corner, Ted Cargill sent in a well-placed cross, which allowed Walker Davey to use his head to place it into the upper right corner. Goalkeeper Russell Shealy didn’t even move for the ball, watching the header go into the net.

Syracuse didn’t have too many threatening chances in the first half, just several crosses into the box that were cleared away by the Eagles. In the 17th minute. Adbi Salim sent a perfectly passed over-the-top ball to switch the field from the left to right, finding the feet of Giona Leibold.

As he’s done all season, Leibold used his speed to dribble down the left flank, sending in a cross that found Levonte Johnson. Johnson didn’t have too much room for a shot, electing to pass it back to Leibold on the left side of the 18. Leibold’s volley had the pace, but he shanked off to the left side of the goal, going out for a goal kick. It marked one of SU’s four shots in the half, while the Eagles had five.

The Orange’s lone shot on goal in the first half came in the 29th minute. A minute earlier, midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski subbed onto the pitch, getting his first minutes since receiving a red card in a win at then-No. 11 Louisville.

Kocevski immediately got involved in what would be Syracuse’s best opportunity of the first half. From the right side, Kocevski sent in a dangerous well-driven ball, which the Eagles managed to clear. Olu Oyegunle ended up with possession, passing it down the left side to Leibold, who crossed it first-time to Johnson. Johnson leaped over a defender, heading it in the opposite direction that keeper Brennan Klein was moving, but Klein corralled the header.

In the second half, the Orange quickly generated several opportunities, many that posed a threat to the Eagles defense. On the right flank, Calov sent in a cross, finding a wide-open Colin Biros. Biros first-timed his shot from inside the 18, but a deflection by an Eagle defender pushed the ball wide for a corner.

“The first 10 to 15 minutes of the first half were tough for us,” Leibold said. “But then, we got back in the game. Second half was great, but we just couldn’t execute and just couldn’t get the last ball in the net to get that finishing goal.”

Calov crossed in the corner from the right side where Opoku got his head on it to redirect. Curti was there just inside the penalty box, but his header went just over the crossbar and landed on the roof of the net.

On another play, Leibold crossed it into Opoku from the left flank. Opoku chested it in down for Lorenzo Boselli, who volleyed it into the lower-left corner, forcing a diving save from Klein.

The scoring chances kept piling on and on and it seemed like Syracuse was bound for an equalizer. It eventually got just that in the 65th minute with Kocevski’s penalty kick. Now the Orange were searching for a game-winner.

“I thought I was going to get a goal, but it happens,” Opoku said. “It’s hard luck. At least we tied and we won the regular season.”

In the final 10 minutes, Syracuse had a couple more opportunities of its own. The Orange often switched the field, whether through cross-field passes or strings of passes across the pitch. Opoku led this field switch, passing it to Boselli in the midfield from the left side. Boselli found Johnson on the right and similar to his game-winning goal against then-No. 1 Clemson, he drove into the box, cutting right and shooting, but it went out for a goal kick.

And SU’s final chance also started with Opoku. Boselli cut into the left side box where Opoku slipped in a pass in between two defenders. Boselli took one touch and used his left foot to shoot, but another diving save by Klein prevented the game-winning goal.

“(Games) come down to little moments,” McIntyre said. “The frustrating part was we conceded on a restart. We created chances, and if you’re not creating chances, you’re worried, but tonight I thought we created them.”

Published on October 28, 2022 at 10:36 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini