No. 16 Syracuse hands No. 1 Clemson first loss of season with thrilling comeback on the road

CLEMSON, S.C. – In a season with signature moments against ranked teams Penn State and Notre Dame, Syracuse men’s soccer added a marquee road win to its resume with a 2-1 victory over defending national champion and No. 1 Clemson.

The Tigers opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a strike from Isaiah Reid. The Orange took control of the match from there. After a critical error from the Clemson backline, senior forward Levonte Johnson assisted junior midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski to draw the score level at one.

15 minutes left in the first half, here is Kocevski's goal to level the score at 1!

ACCN – https://t.co/zbPtKYzCF8 pic.twitter.com/JrZXoIBKno

— Syracuse Men's Soccer (@CuseMSOC) September 16, 2022

Johnson scored the game-winner in the 48th minute of play after a brilliant run found him one-on-one with Clemson goalkeeper Trevor Manion.

The Orange outshot the Tigers, 20-12, on the night, and ‘Cuse goalkeeper Russell Shealy was instrumental in securing the key road win. The redshirt senior tied a career high in saves with six.

In the last 30 minutes of action, Shealy and a backline of Buster Sjoberg, Christian Curti, Abdi Salim and Olu Oyegunle secured the win with heroic defending and shot stopping.

SAVE! Shealy comes up with a massive stop to keep the Orange in front ❌

60:30 I SYR 2 – CLEM 1

ACC Network ? https://t.co/zbPtKYzCF8#DareToDream pic.twitter.com/7cQ22Lnp8t

— Syracuse Men's Soccer (@CuseMSOC) September 17, 2022

“We deserved to get something from this game,” said Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre after the win, “To go behind early in a game and respond the way we did, I am very proud of the guys. This was an important win for us. We’ll enjoy this tonight as a group, then it will be a huge regional matchup against Colgate.”

Syracuse snapped Clemson’s 11-match winning streak, which dated back to last season’s ACC Tournament.

Syracuse will hit the road again to face non-conference opponent Colgate on Tuesday , Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. Following that match, the Orange will return home to square off against ACC foe Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. Admission to the match is free.