Where Will the Goals Come From for Syracuse Men’s Soccer?
By Adam Gotkin | @adam_gotkin
It’s been documented countlessly how much turnover there was from last year’s national championship team to this year. Only seven of the 16 players who featured in the final vs. Indiana return to the team this year. Of the 48 goals that SU scored last year, just 18 of them came from players who are on this year’s team.
The two top goalscorers from last year, Nathan Opoku and Levante Johnson both left to pursue professional opportunities. That left a gaping hole in the Orange offense coming into 2023. The ‘Cuse turned to the transfer portal and brought in a number of high-caliber transfers.
One of the names that jumped off the page right away was Oral Roberts transfer Felipe D’Agostini. The Italian was named the Summit League player of the year, scoring nine goals. In addition, Ian McIntyre brought in Michael Suski, who led Boston College in scoring in both the 2020-21 and 2021 seasons. Then, you can’t forget about Nicholas Kaloukian who was named Big Ten All-Freshman team last year, leading Michigan with four goals.
However, none of these players have scored a goal yet for SU. Through five matches, Lorenzo Boselli, who was a consistent contributor last year but scored just three goals leads the way. Boselli has already topped his goal-scoring number from last year with four. In addition to Boselli, the defenders have gotten involved. Gabriel Mikina, a transfer from Niagra already has two goals to his name. Josh Belluz, a Villanova transfer, and Pablo Pedregosa, a NC State Transfer both have a goal to their name as well.
The only other goal scored by a non-defender came in the last match against Louisville from Mateo Leveque. The UConn transfer was all-Big East last year but only scored two goals for the Huskies.
SU has done its job on the defensive side of the ball. The Orange have given up just three goals through five matches. Two of those have come in the final two minutes of games. But, for the ‘Cuse to take the next step this year and reach the title game again, they’ll have to score. Whether those goals come from D’Agostini or Kaloukian or even the lone freshman Ezra Widman, it doesn’t really matter. SU just needs to find goals from someone. The Orange have an instate matchup tomorrow night against Siena before traveling to #9 Wake Forest on Saturday night.
