2023 Syracuse Orange men's soccer team

2023 Syracuse Orange men's soccer
NCAA tournament Second Round
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 25
TopDrawerSoccer.comNo. 24
Record9–5–7 (2–1–5 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Jukka Masalin (14th season)
  • Sean Lawlor (4th season)
Home stadiumSU Soccer Stadium
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 ACC men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Atlantic
No. 15 Wake Forest + 4 – 1 – 3 11 – 3 – 5
No. 1 Clemson ‡ 4 – 2 – 2 15 – 3 – 5
No. 25 Syracuse + 2 – 1 – 5 9 – 5 – 7
No. 24 Louisville + 2 – 4 – 2 12 – 6 – 3
NC State 1 – 5 – 2 6 – 9 – 3
Boston College 0 – 5 – 3 3 – 9 – 5
Coastal
No. 2 Notre Dame + 6 – 0 – 2 13 – 3 – 6
No. 13 Virginia + 5 – 2 – 1 11 – 4 – 4
No. 20 Duke+ 4 – 3 – 1 11 – 4 – 3
No. 6 North Carolina + 2 – 3 – 3 11 – 3 – 7
Pittsburgh + 2 – 3 – 3 6 – 7 – 4
Virginia Tech 2 – 5 – 1 4 – 9 – 4
As of December 12, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: The ACC

The 2023 Syracuse Orange men's soccer team represented Syracuse University during the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 104th season of the university fielding a program. It was the program's 11th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and their 14th season with Ian McIntyre as the head coach of the program. The Orange played their home matches at SU Soccer Stadium in Syracuse, New York.

The Orange finished the season with a 9–5–7 overall record and a 2–1–5 record in ACC play to finished in third place in the Atlantic Division. As the sixth seed in the ACC Tournament they defeated eleventh seed NC State in the First Round, and advanced past third seed Virginia via penalties in the Quarterfinals, before falling to seventh seed North Carolina in the Semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Boston University in the First Round before losing to eighth seed New Hampshire in the Second Round to end their title defense.

Background

Main article: 2022 Syracuse Orange men's soccer team

The 2022 season was the most successful season in program history. It was the first time a team from the university reached the NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament championship game going on to defeat #13 Indiana, 7-6 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.[1][2] It was the program's first national soccer title since 1936.

During the off-season, the team spent time in the UK, practicing against U21 squads for Brighton & Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton, and Leicester City.[3] The team was also invited to the College Athletes Day at the White House on June 12, 2023.[4][5]

On August 1, 2023, the team was ranked #1 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 preseason poll.[6][7]

Player Movement

Players Leaving

Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Russell Shealy 1 GK 6'1" 223 Redshirt Senior Cartersville, Georgia Graduated; drafted 52nd overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Christian Curti 2 DF 6'2" 178 Senior Ontario, Canada Graduated
Abdi Salim 3 DF 6'1" 177 Senior Buffalo, New York Graduated; drafted 17th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Amferny Sinclair 5 MF 6'0" 165 Senior Alajuela, Costa Rica Graduated; drafted 45th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Julio Fulcar 6 MF 5'9" 174 Graduate Student Watertown, Massachusetts Graduated
Curt Calov 7 MF 5'9" 155 Sophomore Morristown, New Jersey Transferred to Rutgers[8]
Nathan Opoku 10 FW 6'0" 173 Sophomore Accra, Ghana Signed professional contract with Leicester City[9]
Colin Biros 13 MF 5'7" 149 Graduate Student Jackson, Ohio Graduated
Levonte Johnson 14 FW 5'10" 185 Senior Brampton, Ontario Graduated; drafted 29th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Louie Bulger 15 DF 5'10" 157 Senior Tokyo, Japan Graduated
Camden Holbrook 18 MF 6'2" 183 Senior Cary, North Carolina Graduated
Parker Kump 25 GK 6'0" 181 Sophomore Fairport, New York Transferred to Albany
Noah Lechelt 31 MF 5'10" 173 Freshman Edmonton, Canada Transferred to Coastal Carolina
Marc Chin 32 DF 6'0" 185 Freshman Oviedo, Florida —
Lucas Daunhauer 40 GK 6'3" 176 Graduate Student Evansville, Indiana Graduated

Players Arriving

After departure of many starters to professional ranks, the team welcomed 13 transfer players.[10]

Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Jason Smith 1 GK 6'1" 173 Junior Fresno, California Utah Valley
Pablo Pedregosa 2 DF 6'2" 176 Graduate Student Villareal, Spain NC State
Andre Cutler-DeJesus 3 DF 6'1" 176 Junior Mamaroneck, New York Marist
Gabriel Mikina 5 DF 6'1" 183 Senior Toronto, Canada Niagara
Stephen Hasse 6 MF 5'8" 157 Senior Godfrey, Illinois Niagara
Mateo Leveque 7 MF 5'11" 171 Junior Nice, France Connecticut
Felipe D'Agostini 11 MF 5'7" 163 Graduate Student Porto Alegre, Brazil Oral Roberts
Rodrigo Almeida 14 FW 6'1" 165 Graduate Student Lisbon, Portugal Niagara
Daniel Diaz Bonilla 15 FW 6'0" 187 Graduate Student Vienna, Virginia Princeton
Nate Edwards 18 MF 5'9" 167 Senior Brampton, Ontario Purdue Fort Wayne
Thomas Hutt 25 GK 6'3" 217 Junior Nutley, New Jersey Army
Nicholas Kaloukian 32 FW 6'0" 189 Sophomore Wayne, New Jersey Michigan
Josh Belluz 33 MF 6'6" 207 Graduate Student Toronto, Canada Villanova
Michael Suski 99 FW 5'10" 177 Senior Avon, Connecticut Boston College

Recruiting Class

Name Nationality Hometown Club TDS Rating
Ezra Widman
MF
  USA New York, New York New England Revolution Academy [11]

Squad

Roster

As of January 18, 2024[12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK United States USA Sam Coss
1 GK United States USA Jason Smith
2 DF Spain ESP Pablo Pedregosa
3 DF United States USA Andre Cutler-DeJesus
4 DF Germany GER Noah Singelmann
5 DF United States USA Gabriel Mikina
6 MF United States USA Stephen Hasse
7 MF France FRA Mateo Leveque
8 MF United States USA Jeorgio Kocevski
9 FW Germany GER Julius Rauch
10 MF Italy ITA Lorenzo Boselli
11 MF Brazil BRA Felipe D'Agostini
12 DF United States USA Gavin Wigg
13 MF United States USA Colin Biros
14 FW Portugal POR Rodrigo Almeida
15 FW United States USA Daniel Diaz Bonilla
16 MF United States USA Michal Gradus
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF United States USA Giona Leibold
18 MF Canada CAN Nate Edwards
19 DF Sweden SWE Buster Sjoberg
20 MF United States USA Trevor Carabin
21 DF United States USA Stephen Betz
22 DF Canada CAN Ole Oyegunle
23 DF United States USA Jackson Glenn
24 FW United States USA Andrea DiBlasio
25 GK United States USA Thomas Hut
26 MF United States USA Tony Shaw
27 DF United States USA Aidan Arber
28 FW United States USA Francesco Pagano
29 MF United States USA Antonio Pagano
30 GK Canada CAN Jahiem Wickham
31 MF United States USA Ezra Widman
33 MF Canada CAN Josh Belluz
99 FW United States USA Michael Suski

Team management

Position Staff
Athletic director John Wildhack
Head coach Ian McIntyre
Associate head coach Jukka Masalin
Assistant coach Sean Lawlor

Source:

Schedule

Date
Time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Preseason
August 12*
7:00 pm 		No. 1 Canisius W 4–0  –
 SU Soccer Stadium
Syracuse, NY
August 16*
7:00 pm 		No. 1 St. Bonaventure W 5–0  –
 SU Soccer Stadium
Syracuse, NY
August 19*
7:00 pm 		No. 1 Marist W 4–0  –
 SU Soccer Stadium
Syracuse, NY
Regular season
August 24*
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 1 Providence W 2–0  1–0–0
 SU Soccer Stadium (1,276)
Syracuse, NY
August 28*
7:00 pm, ACCN 		No. 1 Binghamton W 3–0  2–0–0
 SU Soccer Stadium (1,422)
Syracuse, NY
September 1*
6:00 pm, BTN 		No. 1 at No. 20 Penn State
Rivalry 		T 1–1  2–0–1
 Jeffrey Field (2,684)
University Park, Pennsylvania
September 4*
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 1 Albany W 1–0  3–0–1
 SU Soccer Stadium (1,257)
Syracuse, NY
September 8
8:00 pm, ACCN 		No. 4 No. 7 Louisville T 2–2  3–0–2
(0–0–1) 		SU Soccer Stadium (1,832)
Syracuse, NY
September 12*
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 7 Siena  Cancelled  3–0–2
 SU Soccer Stadium
Syracuse, NY
September 16
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 7 at No. 20 Wake Forest T 1–1  3–0–3
(0–0–2) 		Spry Stadium (2,059)
Winston-Salem, NC
September 19*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		No. 7 at Cornell L 1–2  3–1–3
 Charles F. Berman Field (915)
Ithaca, NY
September 22
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 7 Pittsburgh W 3–2  4–1–3
(1–0–2) 		SU Soccer Stadium (1,911)
Syracuse, NY
September 29
7:00 pm, ACCN 		No. 7 at No. 21 Duke L 3–5  4–2–3
(1–1–2) 		Koskinen Stadium (1,524)
Durham, NC
October 3*
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 18 Colgate W 1–0  5–2–3
 SU Soccer Stadium (784)
Syracuse, NY
October 6
7:30 pm, ACCN 		No. 18 No. 13 North Carolina W 1–0  6–2–3
(2–1–2) 		Dorrance Field (2,387)
Chapel Hill, NC
October 10*
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 10 Temple L 1–2  6–3–3
 SU Soccer Stadium (352)
Syracuse, NY
October 15
1:00 pm, ESPNU 		No. 10 No. 21 Clemson T 1–1  6–3–4
(2–1–3) 		SU Soccer Stadium (1,612)
Syracuse, NY
October 18*
7:00 pm, ACCN 		No. 22 Yale W 2–0  7–3–4
 SU Soccer Stadium (487)
Syracuse, NY
October 22
1:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 22 NC State T 1–1  7–3–5
(2–1–4) 		SU Soccer Stadium (320)
Syracuse, NY
October 27
7:00 pm, ACCNX 		No. 19 Boston College T 1–1  7–3–6
(2–1–5) 		Newton Campus Soccer Field (517)
Chestnut Hill, MA
ACC tournament
November 1
6:00 pm, ACCN 		(6) No. 22 (11) NC State
First Round 		W 5–0  8–3–6
 SU Soccer Stadium (505)
Syracuse, NY
November 5
2:00 pm, ACCN 		(6) No. 24 (3) No. 9 Virginia
Quarterfinals 		W 1–1 4-3 8–3–7
 Klöckner Stadium (2106)
Charlottesville, VA
November 8
6:00 pm, ACCN 		(6) No. 18 (7) No. 7 North Carolina
Semifinals 		L 1–3  8–4–7
 SU Soccer Stadium (1570)
Syracuse, N.Y.
NCAA tournament
November 16*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		No. 18 Boston University
First round 		W 3–1  9-4-7
 SU Soccer Stadium (1321)
Syracuse, NY
November 19*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		No. 18 (8) No. 10 New Hampshire
Second round 		L 0–3  9-5-7
 Wildcat Stadium (620)
Durham, N.H.
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time[13][14].

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date Ref.
Giona Leibold Pre-Season All-ACC Team August 26, 2023 [15]
Jahiem Wickham ACC Defensive Player of the Week October 10, 2023 [16]
Jeorgio Kocevski ACC Midfielder of the Year November 8, 2023 [17]
All-ACC First Team
Lorenzo Boselli All-ACC Third Team
Daniel Diaz Bonilla ACC All-Tournament Team November 12, 2023 [18]
Alex Svetanoff

2024 MLS Super Draft

Main article: 2024 MLS SuperDraft
Player Team Round Pick # Position
United States Jeorgio Kocevski Orlando City 1 21 MF
Canada Olu Oyegunle Atlanta United 2 33 DF

Source:[19]

Rankings

Main article: 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
United Soccer[20]1 (4)1 (8)4777181022192218Not released25
TopDrawer Soccer[21]1136581311171924192124242424

References

  1. ^ Camargo, Alberto (December 13, 2022). "Syracuse wins the 2022 Men's College Cup on PKs after dramatic 2-2 draw". NCAA. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Bambini, Cole (December 12, 2022). "Syracuse wins 1st College Cup in program history, defeats Indiana 7-6 in PKs". The Daily Orange. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  3. ^ Andrews, Cooper (August 24, 2023). "Syracuse men's soccer spent the summer across the pond". The Daily Orange. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  4. ^ "Orange Visit Nation's Capital". Syracuse University Athletics (Press release). June 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  5. ^ "SCHUMER WELCOMES SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY MEN'S SOCCER NATIONAL CHAMPIONS TO WASHINGTON D.C." Senator Charles E. Schumer's Office. Washington D.C. June 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  6. ^ "NCAA DI Mens Rankings – NATIONAL - PRE-SEASON POLL". United Soccer Coaches. August 1, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  7. ^ Andrews, Cooper (August 2, 2023). "Syracuse ranked No. 1 in United Soccer Coaches' preseason poll". The Daily Orange. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  8. ^ "Men's Soccer Adds Pair of Transfers". scarletknights.com. Rutgers University Athletics. January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  9. ^ "Foxes sign youngster Opoku before loan move". BBC Sport.
  10. ^ Andrews, Cooper (November 28, 2023). "Ian McIntyre proved he's building sustained success at Syracuse in 2023". The Daily Orange. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  11. ^ "Ezra Widman". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  12. ^ "2023 Men's Soccer Roster". cuse.com. Syracuse University Athletics. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  13. ^ "2023 Men's Soccer Schedule". cuse.com. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  14. ^ "Defending Champs To Face Seven NCAA Tournament Teams in 2023". Syracuse University Athletics (Press release). July 20, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  15. ^ "Clemson Selected 2023 Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  16. ^ "Clemson's Sylla, Syracuse's Wickham Named ACC Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  17. ^ "2023 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  18. ^ "Clemson Wins 2023 ACC Men's Soccer Championship". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 12, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  19. ^ "Kocevski, Oyegunle Selected in 2024 MLS SuperDraft". cuse.com. Syracuse University Athletics. December 20, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  20. ^ "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Men — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  21. ^ "College Soccer National Ranking". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.