Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Levonte Johnson pinned a lavalier microphone onto his jersey for his postgame interview, answering how many offsides he thought he was called for against Niagara.

“Like nine,” Johnson responded with a smile.

He wasn’t too far off.

Johnson was whistled for four offsides against the Purple Eagles as he continually pushed the envelope against a high Niagara backline. On a sloppy night in terms of both conditions and team performance, Johnson shone through for the Orange with run after run that threatened the Niagara defense.

No. 16 Syracuse (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) did not put together as polished a performance as it did three days ago against then-No. 22 Notre Dame, but it still held off Niagara (1-4-1, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic) for a second consecutive 1-0 win. Johnson was key for the Orange – his ambitious runs and blistering pace earned him some offside whistles but also the match’s only goal and three shots on target. No other player on either team registered more than one.

Early in the match, Johnson tested the Niagara backline. In the eighth minute, Russell Shealy booted a goal kick past the center circle. Nathan Opoku barely got his head to it, but flicked the ball directly to Johnson, who sprinted to it with just a single defender between him and the goal.

Johnson beat his man to get the ball at the edge of the box, but just as he did, the linesman’s whistle sounded. Johnson still chipped the ball over the keeper and into the goal.

Ambitious runs like this typified Johnson’s performance against the Purple Eagles. Just twenty minutes later, he was whistled for an offside on another Shealy deep ball.

“I feel like it stretched out the defense,” Johnson said about his pace. “So when they tried to keep the game close and we’d play it behind, it forced them to have to turn around and get sprinting behind.”

And in the 12th minute, Johnson’s constant probing was rewarded. In the moments after a Syracuse corner kick, Colin Biros sprung Opoku down the left flank. As Niagara’s defense tried to regain its formation after the set piece, four defenders surged towards Opoku at the far edge of the box.

Meanwhile, Johnson was left alone at the back post with both arms raised. Opoku crossed the ball and Johnson hit it off the volley into the bottom left of the net. The one defender in the area – sitting on the ground after unsuccessfully trying to block Johnson’s shot – shrugged his arms twice in disgust.

“I see Nate get the ball and I see every guy just rush towards the ball,” Johnson said. “I just looked around and just held my run … and hoped Nate saw me back post.”

Johnson’s goal marked his second of the year, and the second time Opoku has assisted him. Johnson has also assisted on both of Opoku’s goals – four of Syracuse’s eleven goals this season have come from a combination between the two forwards.

Syracuse didn’t dominate the possession early like they have in past games. Head coach Ian McIntyre partially attributed this to the relative positional inexperience of the midfield. Lorenzo Boselli started out of position in place of Noah Singelmann and Curt Calov earned his first start of the year.

Calov continually supplied Johnson with good balls behind the defense.

“He made some good runs,” Calov said. “It really gives you that opportunity to go in behind and play with space, as fast as he is, and crash the box and hope for the ball to squirt out.”

Johnson’s pace is one of the reasons he was named to the United Soccer Coaches Forwards to Watch List as well as the Hermann Trophy Watch List. At previous stops before Syracuse, he made several highlight reel plays where he saw the backline push high and either dribbled past them or received a pass in behind.

Matt Broadhead, one of Johnson’s former coaches, called these “little kid moments,” because they often happen in youth soccer, but are rare at higher levels because defenders are more technical and defenses are better organized.

Johnson had his fair share of these moments against Niagara, although none of them resulted in goals. In the 50th minute, Biros sprung Johnson on a two-on-two, but after beating his defender, Johnson’s pass to Opoku was snatched up by the keeper. Less than two minutes later, he received a long ball from Olu Oyegunle, and after a burst of acceleration, split two defenders at the top of the box before getting tied up in traffic.

In the 69th minute, a minute after being whistled for his third offside call, Johnson received a lofted ball from Camden Holbrook and raced the two defenders chasing after him. After tripping on one of them at the top of the box, Johnson recovered, bought himself some space, and rocketed a shot off the inside of the post.

“You’d like a second goal and I think we created enough chances to get that second one,” McIntyre said. “(Johnson) probably could have had a couple more.”

Published on September 14, 2022 at 12:30 am

Contact Connor: cpignate@syr.edu