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Since its monumental road win on Oct. 6 over then-No. 13 North Carolina, Syracuse men’s soccer went through an underwhelming four-game stretch. It was 1-1-2 during that span where it only faced one ranked opponent, with the lowlight being a 2-1 loss to a Temple squad that had one win at the time.

Then, in the regular-season finale against Boston College — a team with zero Atlantic Coast Conference victories — the Orange raised more concerns.

Down 1-0 in the 35th minute, BC’s Drew Serafino dribbled past Gabriel Mikina along the right sideline. He tapped a feed to Marco Dos Santos, who had Mikina, Olu Oyegunle and Felipe D’Agostini charging toward him. Behind the three SU players was Xavier O’Neil. With plenty of space, Dos Santos sent O’Neil a leading pass as he drove forward.

O’Neil cut to his left once he got near the 18-yard box, slotting a shot past Syracuse’s Jahiem Wickham and into the bottom left corner of the net. It was O’Neil’s first-career goal, leveling the game at 1-1.

“They grew into the game,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said of Boston College postgame. “I thought we had (won) the first half of the first half, and then I think they grew and got the goal and got some momentum.”

No. 19 Syracuse (7-3-6, 2-1-5 ACC) ended its 2023 regular season with a 1-1 draw to Boston College (3-8-5, 0-5-3 ACC). It was a familiar performance from the Orange. For lengthy stretches, they struggled to generate a consistent attack and were left trying to catch up in the game’s final minutes. In a rather sloppy affair, SU committed 21 fouls — its most since Sept. 16 against Wake Forest (23) — and were called offsides six times, five more than BC. It accumulated a shot-on-target percentage of 0.167, its lowest since the loss to Temple (0.133).

But in the early going, the Orange got off to a fast start. SU’s Lorenzo Boselli made a run along the right flank in the fifth minute, pushing toward the 18. Jeorgio Kocevski headed a ball off an attempted clearance by BC that he placed in stride with Boselli.

Eagles’ defender CJ Williams defended Boselli tight. Yet, the forward still managed to fire a shot that snuck inside the near post past BC goalkeeper Brennan Klein, giving the Orange a 1-0 lead. It was Boselli’s team-leading sixth goal of the season and Kocevski’s team-best 10th assist, which is the most in program history since Julian Buescher’s 11 in 2015.

Eleven minutes later, Kocevski and Boselli connected again, nearly making it 2-0 SU. Nicholas Kaloukian possessed the ball with his back to the net, passing back to Kocevski. As the midfielder controlled it, Boselli made a run toward the net and Kocevski sent a through ball out in front of BC’s backline.

Boston College midfielder Afie Hughes converged on the open Boselli from the right side, forcing the forward to take a quick shot. The attempt bounced directly at Klein, who corralled the save.

That was Syracuse’s second and final shot on goal. Each of its next 10 tries in the remaining 74 minutes were off-target. The Eagles’ 35th-minute equalizer sent the Orange into halftime tied 1-1 while being outshot at that point 6-4. In the second half, SU had more opportunities, but failed to take advantage of them.

In the 68th minute, BC’s Jack Burkhardt committed a hard foul on Jackson Glenn that warranted a yellow card. On the ensuing free kick, Kocevski whipped a feed from the shallow right side that was headed outside of the box. It became a loose ball, making its way to Noah Singelmann on the left side. He had room in front of him and fired a shot, but it hit directly off the stomach of Mikina near the net, preventing a scoring chance.

Seven minutes later, Nate Edwards booted a cross inside the box and found D’Agostini. He quickly passed behind him for Kaloukian, who had space going forward. Kaloukian slightly hesitated before his attempt, misfiring high above the crossbar.

“We created some chances and half chances,” McIntyre said. “And I thought we were going to find a way to get that second goal.”

Syracuse was awarded a free kick in the 79th minute that was dribbled out by Singelmann. He passed back to Kocevski, who had slid further back than normal, twirling a long pass within the box for a crowd of SU players. But the feed didn’t materialize to anything and was promptly booted away from the play by the Eagles.

As time dwindled down to under 5:00, the Orange received a litany of opportunities. Yet, they couldn’t come up with any late-game production as Boston College’s backline fortified itself deep in the defensive third.

In the 86th minute, SU had a free kick that Kocevski took. His ball found Oyegunle near the net, whose header was deflected by the BC backline. Oyegunle controlled the ensuing loose ball and booted another shot toward net, but was denied again by a swarm of Boston College defenders.

Then, a minute later, Boselli had one of the best looks of the evening. A pass from Singelmann hit the chest of a cutting Kaloukian, causing the ball to trickle backward. Boselli was there at the right time for a one-time chance just inside the 18. But, his ball sailed high above the goal.

Syracuse’s final chance came in the 89th minute. A corner from Kocevski found Kaloukian inside the six-yard box. The Michigan transfer’s ensuing header flew too high, as Boston College went the other way for its last stand, which also failed.

McIntyre said his players were frustrated after the game with the 1-1 result. But the head coach remained optimistic. He mentioned the challenge of facing quality opponents week in and week out in the ACC, and how the Orange finished 2023 with a winning record in the conference.

“We’re disappointed that we hadn’t got three points against NC State and Boston College, but that also tells you the expectations of this group,” McIntyre said. “And that’s a good problem to have.”

Published on October 27, 2023 at 11:10 pm

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