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Syracuse applied pressure, but had nothing to show for it.

In the 12th minute, the Orange got the breakthrough they needed. Josh Belluz sent a long ball into the 18-yard box with Nicholas Kaloukian streaking ahead. Before the ball landed, Louisville’s Bryce LeBel extended his left arm and shoved Kaloukian, awarding Syracuse a penalty kick.

Lorenzo Boselli stutter stepped, sending a shot to the right of Alex Sventanoff, who anticipated the striker to go left. Boselli’s penalty shot knotted the game at 1-1.

While the Orange applied pressure all night long, it wasn’t enough. No. 4 Syracuse (3-0-2, 0-0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) garnered a 2-2 draw against No. 7 Louisville (4-0-1, 0-0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), tying its second straight contest versus a ranked opponent. SU outshot the Cardinals 12-2 in the first half, taking a 2-1 lead into the break. But the Orange couldn’t generate the same attack in the second half. In the 89th minute, Louisville’s leading goal-scorer Gage Guerra tied the game up and made SU pay for its inconsistent finishing.

“We worked so hard to try to limit the time on the ball for a wonderful Louisville team,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “(There were) a couple of moments where we’ll look back and probably be a little bit disappointed we didn’t close the door on them.”

SU had plenty of opportunities to nail in the coffin late in the second half. With under five minutes remaining, Kaloukian weaved in between Louisville’s Bradley Sample and Axel Alejandre along the left edge of the 18. The Michigan transfer gave himself an open look at the goal, but Kaloukian’s shot sailed high.

The Cardinal’s offense started to apply some of their own pressure on the other end, resulting in a corner kick at the 1:39 mark. Guerra got to the loose ball once it reached the box, sticking his left foot out and poking the ball past SU goalie Jason Smith.

“We’ve been on the other side of these late goals, we got a late one against Penn State,” McIntyre said of Guerra’s equalizer. “You’re disappointed, you’ve worked so hard.”

Guerra both set the tone and completed the comeback for Louisville. Just over 10 minutes in, Brandon McManus controlled the ball at the right edge of the 18. McManus felt pressure from Olu Oyegunle and found an open Guerra.

The Army transfer gathered himself and uncorked a laser to the far post, beating Smith. Guerra found the back of the net to give Louisville an early 1-0 lead.

Once SU equalized on the Boselli penalty kick, the Orange kept with the pressure.

During the 15th minute, a through ball from Kocevski made its way to Kaloukian on the left side. Kaloukian dribbled forward and faked LeBel out to move to his left, while Kaloukian slide right to create space. He sent a high-velocity shot toward the far post, but it flew wide.

Two minutes later, Edwards charged up the middle of the field with Leibold trailing just behind for a 2-on-1 chance. Edwards flipped a backheel pass to Leibold, who moved to the right to improve his shooting angle. Leibold’s shot was booted over the endline by a sliding Mason Tatafu.

Needing a spark, the Orange turned to UConn transfer Mateo Leveque to help create scoring chances. Playing more forward than he usually does, Leveque created chances for Syracuse. He said postgame that he was told by McIntyre and the coaching staff to play higher up.

“The (coaches) asked me to move more forward, so I guess we needed some goals from the midfield,” Leveque said. “I tried to get a balance between coming down, getting on the ball and get in the box and score a goal, too.”

The decision paid off. In the 33rd minute, SU unleashed a high press. Belluz stayed on Roed while Noah Singelmann and Leveque swarmed on the ball.

The trio forced a turnover that spun out back and found Kocevski behind the 18. Kocevski sent a through ball back inside the box for Leveque. He maneuvered around Roed to create space and then fired a low shot to the left of Sventanoff, giving Syracuse its first lead of the game.

“I’m in the box, so they can’t touch me because otherwise it’s a PK. So I just relaxed, made sure to get my first touch and then (it was there),” Leveque said of his first goal with SU.

Louisville created chances in the second half. It took three times as many shots (six) as it did in the first 45 minutes. While Syracuse didn’t attack like it did in the first half, it still recorded seven shots in the latter half. But it couldn’t score the elusive third goal.

A Louisville offensive breakdown in the 56th minute gave Boselli the ball within SU’s defensive third. Boselli sent a through ball forward to Kaloukian, who dribbled to his left and fired. But his shot was saved by Sventanoff.

Just four minutes later, Gabriel Mikina sent a long diagonal pass from the right sideline into the top of the 18 for D’Agostini. Despite having space, D’Agostini’s shot sailed high — a common theme for SU on Friday night.

“I think when we have space and we find spaces, we are probably the best team in the country,” Boselli said. “We know these games are tough and we’ve got a target on our backs.”

Published on September 9, 2023 at 12:30 am

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews