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After two sub-.500 seasons, Syracuse jumped out to an eight-game unbeaten streak to start its 2022 campaign. It picked up wins against then-No. 21 Penn State, then-No. 22 Notre Dame and an upset at then-No. 1 Clemson, the defending national champions. Afterwards, the Orange struggled briefly, losing two of three games to then-No. 22 Cornell and Virginia.

But with a draw at NC State on Oct. 22, No. 4 Syracuse (12-2-3, 5-1-2, Atlantic Coast) clinched its first ACC Atlantic division title for the first since 2014. To close the regular season, the Orange also tied Boston College 1-1, finishing the season on a six-game unbeaten streak. 

“We (played) eight big ACC games,” head coach Ian McIntyre said.  “If you’re the top team at the end of (ACC) league play, it means you have had consistency. They’ve deserved it.”

Syracuse enters as the No. 2 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament, which it last won in 2015, the same year SU made its first-ever College Cup appearance.

Here’s what you need to know about Syracuse’s path through the ACC Tournament:

Quarterfinals: No. 7 seed North Carolina

In 2022, the Tar Heels and the Orange did not play each other and last met in the 2021 ACC Tournament, where UNC won in double overtime with a penalty kick in the 106th minute and ended Syracuse’s season. 

On Wednesday, North Carolina advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2022 ACC Tournament, defeating Boston College 1-0 behind an 82nd minute goal by Ernest Bawa. 

The Tar Heels are one of the low-scoring teams in the conference, getting just 18 goals on 167 shots, both of which rank 10th in the conference. Entering the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels had zero goal-scorers ranked in the top ten. Their most productive scorers — Milo Garvanian and Akeim Clarke — have notched four goals each. 

UNC is better defensively, conceding just .88 goals per game, a mark that’s fourth-best in the conference prior to its win over Boston College. But similarly, Syracuse has the seventh-best goals allowed average in the country. 

Semifinals: No. 3 seed Virginia or No. 6 seed Pittsburgh

Virginia handed the Orange their first loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat at SU Soccer Stadium. Syracuse played with 10 men for the majority of the game after Kocevski picked up his second yellow card midway through the first half.

In the 85th minute, UVA’s Leo Afonso received the ball on the right flank, driving against Olu Oyegunle. Once he reached the top-right of the 18, Afonso cut left and shot the ball into the upper-left corner of the net. 

The Cavaliers are a stronger team offensively, ranking in the top five in the conference for shots, points and goals. They also have ranked wins over Pitt, Clemson and Wake Forest and finished with the same conference record as the Orange. 

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Pitt won its first-round match 4-1 win in overtime over NC State, securing its spot in the quarterfinals against the Cavaliers. The Panthers and the Orange last played in Oct. 2021, when the Orange fell 3-2 in double overtime.

In 2022, Pitt opened up its season with ranked wins over then-No. 2 Georgetown and then-No. 6 West Virginia. It had five draws throughout the regular season, four of which were against ranked teams. The Panthers are also the second-highest goal-scoring team in the conference, finishing with 31 goals in the regular season. 

ACC Championship: Most likely No. 1 seed Duke or No. 4 seed Wake Forest

In early October, Syracuse picked up its second top-five win over the season, defeating then-No. 4 Wake Forest 2-0 at home. The Orange outshot the Demon Deacons 19-10 and scored both of its goals in the first half.

“This was a good performance,” McIntyre said of the win over Wake. “They’re one of the elite programs, not just in our conference in the country.  A true benchmark from which we kind of measure ourselves in each season.”

Kocevski scored one of the goals from the penalty spot, similar to his PK against Boston College. Kocevski, who earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week earlier in the season, has improved significantly in 2022 with four goals and two assists. In his two previous seasons, he combined for just one goal and two assists.

If Wake Forest advances to the final, it’ll have likely defeated No. 1 seed Duke in the semifinals and No. 8 seed Clemson in quarterfinals. Duke currently ranks No. 3 in the country and is the only undefeated ACC team remaining. Clemson was also ranked No. 1 at one point in the season.

In addition, the Demon Deacons would have home-field advantage as they host the conference tournament final. Statistically, Wake Forest entered the conference tournament ranked second in the conference in shots-per-game (16.81), trailing Syracuse. The Demon Deacons are also the highest scoring team in the conference (2.41 goals per game). 

SU and Duke did not play each other throughout the regular season in 2022, and the Blue Devils won 1-0 at Syracuse in 2021. Duke is the best defensive team in the country, conceding just five goals all season. 

Offensively, the Blue Devils aren’t a high-scoring team. The Blue Devils rank seventh in the conference with 1.73 goals per game, scoring 26 all season. They have four players with at least three goals, led by Shakur Mohammed’s nine. 

“I’m very proud of this group that they can say that they have the best regular season ACC record and in our league,” McIntyre said following the BC game. “I want the guys to take a moment and reflect on it and realize how good they’ve been this year.”

Published on November 2, 2022 at 10:06 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini