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CARY, N.C. — Syracuse didn’t deserve any preseason first-place votes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Head coach Ian McIntyre even picked Clemson to win the league.

“I don’t think anyone got it wrong by not giving us any first-place votes,” McIntyre said postgame Sunday.

But the team that was supposed to finish fourth in the ACC’s Atlantic Division finished as champions of the entire conference. No. 3 Syracuse (14-2-4, 5-1-2 ACC) won its second-ever ACC Championship, defeating No. 18 Clemson (13-6-1, 3-4-1 ACC) 2-0. The Orange, who also won the Atlantic Division, secured their 10th shutout of the year. Goals from Lorenzo Boselli and Giona Leibold were enough to pull out its second win over the defending national champions this season.

“No one believed in us,” Boselli said. “We knew we could go and do something special.”

Clemson head coach Mike Noonan didn’t think he saw anything different tactically about Syracuse since their first meeting two months ago, but said that SU has improved over the course of the season.

“That’s one of the best things about their team is that they’re very true to what they did and executed things exceptionally well,” Noonan said.

In September, it was Jeorgio Kocevski and Levonte Johnson’s goals that aided Syracuse’s comeback on the road for a 2-1 win. But on Sunday, it was two first-half goals from Boselli and Leibold, complimented by a compact backline, that got the Orange past the Tigers once more. Johnson facilitated much of the attack again, registering a game-high four shots.

Johnson had two chances in the box in the first four minutes on Sunday, both facilitated by Leibold. Just three minutes into the game, Abdi Salim played it from deep, finding the feet of Johnson, who had a quick combination with Leibold before his shot from the 18 went sailing left. A minute later on another play, where Leibold slipped a through ball into the box, Johnson’s shot forced a save from Joseph Andema. Johnson and Leibold generated much of the Orange’s offense in the first half, combining for six of SU’s nine shots.

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In the 21st minute, Nathan Opoku had possession on the left side, slipping a short pass intended for Boselli. Joey Skinner tried to clear the ball, but it ricocheted off Hamady Diop and was left loose in the box. Boselli, with possession near the penalty spot, knew he had to score and scored to put SU up 1-0.

“I think I blacked out, I don’t remember celebrating it,” Boselli said on his goal. “In the end, scoring or not scoring doesn’t matter as long as we win as a team.”

Most of Clemson’s opportunities came off of set pieces in the first half, including two of its eight corners in the first two minutes. The Tigers also had 10 free kicks in the first half, but failure to track back defensively after the play is what ultimately handed the Tigers a 2-0 deficit.

Just a yard outside the 18, Alvaro Gomez took Clemson’s ninth free kick of the game near the end of the first half. But the Orange’s barrier blocked it to kickstart the counterattack. Curt Calov led the rapid transition as Clemson had minimal numbers back. Calov saw Leibold on the right side, slipping the ball to his path — barely onside. Leibold took a couple touches, veering left before firing to extend the Syracuse lead.

 

Giona Leibold scored off a pass from Curt Calov to put the game out of reach from Clemson in the ACC Championship game. Courtesy of Jaylynn Nash | ACC

Despite practically even possession in the first half, Syracuse outshot the Tigers 9-4 and held Clemson to just one shot on target. A clearance from the back trickled into the feet of Mohamed Seye, who tried to chip the ball over Russell Shealy. Shealy stayed on his feet, making the save, his lone save on the only shot on goal in the first half for the Tigers.

Though Shealy wasn’t called into action too much, he came up clutch at times, finishing with four saves. In the second half, Gomez lofted a high-volley from outside the 18. The ball looked like it was heading for the upper left corner, but Shealy dove backwards and pushed the ball over the crossbar. On another opportunity after Johnson and Abdi Salim collided inside the 18, Joey Skinner had a wide-open shot opportunity from the left side of the box, but Shealy pushed the ball out for a corner.

McIntyre described the 2-0 lead as a coach’s “cliché,” with it being known as the worst lead in soccer. But he said he knew Clemson would eventually start knocking on the door. It did, getting eight shots in the second half to finish with 12 in the game.

Syracuse could’ve helped that by extending its lead, especially on two immediate opportunities at the start of the second half. Kocevski played a great cross-field ball from behind the midfield line, finding Noah Singelmann. Singelmann played a low cross to the feet of Opoku near the penalty box, but Opoku’s shot was saved by the foot of Andema.

Less than a minute later, Opoku lobbed over a pass to Johnson. Johnson was patient, waiting for numbers to get up in the box. He passed it back to Kocevski at the top of the 18. But Kocevski’s right-footed curler went high and wide.

“Second half, we wanted to manage the game, but still be aggressive and I thought we did that,” McIntyre said.

In addition to Shealy’s presence, Christian Curti, Abdi Salim and Olu Oyegunle were the anchors of the back three — the same lineup used in its semifinal win. Buster Sjoberg, though dressed in uniform, did not play again after an undisclosed injury in the Orange’s quarterfinal win over North Carolina. They, along with Sinclair, were tasked with minimizing Ousmane Sylla offensively. Sylla did not play in the teams’ previous matchup and the Orange held him to just one shot on the afternoon.

As the game entered its final 15 minutes, Clemson became desperate, pressing higher and hoping to cut into its deficit. Shealy made another routine save on a Gomez header before falling on top of a quick free kick that tried to find the path of Dylan Sullivan.

With three minutes left, Seye had a header that went just right of the post, but that would be Clemson’s last chance of the game. Syracuse’s bench stood up and stormed the field while head coach McIntyre slowly paced back and forth, just like it did in 2015.

“We knew that we’ve got talent, but we also showed that we got the character and resilience in these big games and on our day, we can compete with anyone,” McIntyre said.

Published on November 13, 2022 at 2:34 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini