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Levonte Johnson sprinted with two Bison defenders beside him as Christian Curti spun around and progressed the ball forward to him.

Johnson raced ahead of both defenders, taking advantage of the Bison’s high line. Johnson played his shot from the top of the box far more left than Bucknell keeper Freddie Lapworth anticipated. The opposing keeper immediately fell to his knees, and Johnson immediately threw his hands up in celebration before the ball crossed the goal line.

“I feel like playing a high line kind of suits me because it turns into a foot race and I’m faster than a lot of offenders in this country,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s two goals were enough for No. 4 Syracuse (12-2-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) to get past Bucknell (2-12, 1-5 Patriot League) at home in a 2-1 win. The Orange overwhelmed the Bison for the majority of the match, recording 21 more shots. Johnson finished with 10 shots, which was double the amount of Nathan Opoku’s second-best total. In the 55 minutes between Johnson’s two scores, Lapworth stopped him multiple times.

Throughout the match, when SU forwards approached the Bison box, Lapworth would move up to make a save. This strategy was successful for most of the game, as Lapworth made a season-high 12 saves. But early on, Johnson used this to score the match’s first goal. Instead of only taking advantage of Bucknell’s high line, Johnson also used Lapworth’s aggressive tendencies to his own benefit.

Jackson Glenn, who was making his first start of the season after the Orange to adjust to the red card suspension of Jeorgio Kocevski, fielded the ball on SU’s own half at the eight-minute mark. Noticing the crowded midfield and a wide-open Johnson, Glenn sent a long, high pass to the forward.

Johnson directed his two defenders away from the curling pass and then quickly made a cut inside to get possession of the ball. Lapworth now stood right at the top of the box, so Johnson lofted the ball over the keeper, and it bounced into the bottom left corner to give the Orange a 1-0 lead.

“The goalkeeper podium was very aggressive, but he got caught on the first goal by being aggressive,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. “On another day, he (would’ve) got caught a couple of times. So that’s by playing a high line and him being very aggressive.”

But even before Johnson’s first goal, Lapworth had already used his strategy to make a save against the attacker. Six minutes into the match, Johnson cut back with two Bucknell defenders in front of him.

From the top of the box, Johnson fired a shot that Lapworth scooped up. Not even four minutes after the first goal of the match, Johnson and the Orange attack had to play in a tied game.

A failed header clearance from Buster Sjoberg gave the Bison possession still in SU’s half. Charlie Holmes got a pass from Marco Valentic and now was in a one-on-one matchup at the top of the box with Olu Oyegunle. Holmes faked to his left, causing Oyegunle to fall and giving Holmes an open shot against Russell Shealy. Holmes buried the shot to get the match level again.

Johnson was offensively shut down for the rest of the half. With Lapworth away from the net again in the 16th minute, Johnson tried to use the same chip shot he used on his first goal. This time, though, Lapworth blocked the shot. Four minutes later, Johnson dribbled in the box, opting to make a move to his right side, which resulted in a turnover and Bucknell clearance.

In the 51st minute, Opoku grabbed a slow Bucknell pass and created a counterattack for Syracuse. Opoku led the transition, making two quick cuts before passing to Johnson on the right side. Near the top right corner of the box, Johnson recorded another shot, but it got blocked before the ball even reached Lapworth.

As the Orange restarted the attack, Johnson had a chance to be a distributor as well. Lorenzo Boselli curled a pass from the top of the box that Johnson kicked in the air. But the odd angle of the kick and Bucknell’s pressure left Opoku too far away to take a shot. While Johnson enjoyed that the Bison played higher up the field, he was also caught off guard by their 12 substitutions that “kept their legs fresh.”

But McIntyre said Johnson overcame the Bucknell defense by using his athleticism and directness on the second goal to give Syracuse the lead again. After his second goal, he continued to go at Bucknell’s defense, even drawing a penalty kick. While Johnson missed on the penalty shot to the right, he added two more shots to his total after he became the second-highest scorer in the ACC.

“Both him and Nate are so capable of taking over a game like that,” Curti said. “I think he was a little bit unlucky on the penalty. And on another day, I think he finishes the hat trick.”

Published on October 18, 2022 at 11:09 pm

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