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Jeorgio Kocevski has his spot. On penalty shots, he aims for the bottom left. Against then-No. 4 Wake Forest, Kocevski scored Syracuse’s first goal of its upset win with a penalty kick that went past the Demon Deacons’ keeper. Three weeks later against a below-.500 Boston College, Kocevski used his preferred spot to tie the match.

After a failed pass to a teammate, Nathan Opoku held the ball in the left corner of the box. But once an Eagle defender tackled him from behind, Opoku fell to the ground, drawing a penalty kick for the Orange and bringing in their “top PK taker” to go up against BC goalkeeper Brennan Klein.

In Kocevski’s run up to the ball, he faked like he was going to take a shot to the right. Thus, Klein dove that way. But Kocevski relied on normal spot and buried a shot in the bottom left corner of the net. 

Kocevski’s goal was part of his first appearance back for Syracuse following his two-game red card suspension. After starting the first 27 minutes on the bench, Kocevski played the rest of the Orange’s (12-2-3, 5-1-2 Atlantic Coast) 1-1 draw with Boston College (4-6-5, 1-4-3 ACC). Along with registering two shots and SU’s only score of the game, Kocevski made positive plays for the teams on both ends of the pitch. 

In the final 13 minutes against Louisville nearly two weeks ago, Kocevski ran into a Cardinal and was given his second yellow card of the night. Kocevski left the pitch shocked and frustrated, and his father, Ile, said his son was devastated after the game. 

After serving the suspension, Kocevski subbed in for Lorenzo Boselli. At this point, the Orange trailed 1-0 following a header goal from BC’s Walker Davey.

But once he stepped onto the pitch, Kocevski immediately created offense for the Orange. He helped Levonte Johnson steal the ball away from Eagle Ted Cargill on the right side of the field. Johnson tapped the ball to a flanking Kocevski, who then sent in a cross from the right side of the field. On a second-chance opportunity, Kocevski got the ball back after a failed BC clearance and passed to Johnson, whose shot got blocked at the top of the 18.

“When they were a goal up, they kind of dropped off a little bit,” SU head coach Ian McIntyre said. “And (Kocevski) was important to move the ball around and connect some passes and to move us a little bit further forward.”

Minutes later, Kocevski sent a long cross down to Giona Leibold on the left wing. But Leibold’s cross was cleared by the Eagles’ backline. Later in the second half, Leibold got the chance to send a cross into Kocevski to give the Orange a potential lead.

Colin Biros got a quick steal and sent the ball down to Leibold on the left. Leibold sprinted straight for the goal line before crossing to Kocevski. But Kocevski’s volley skirted wide right of the net. Still, Leibold was pleased to have his teammate back in the lineup. 

“It’s great to have Jeorgio back. In the last two games, we missed him a lot in the middle,” Leibold said. 

Kocevski also consistently progressed the Orange up the pitch. With 30 minutes remaining in the match, he faked a move to the left that made Boston College’s Jesus Sahagun fall to the grass. 

Even after he scored SU’s sole goal of the game, Kocevski still made consistent attacks against the Eagles. In the 66th minute, Olu Oyegunle stood near the center line when he faced pressure from BC. Oyegunle then turned to his right and passed the ball down to Kocevski, who after touching the ball, sent another long and booming cross down the left side to Biros, creating another scoring chance. 

In the 74th minute, Kocevski had a shot from the top of the 18, but the ball sailed over the net.

In the second half alone, the Orange outshot the Eagles 14-3, controlling the majority of possessions. McIntyre said having a midfield of Kocevski, Biros and Boselli was helpful in Syracuse’s start to the second half. But Biros said due to Kocevski’s height advantage, Kocevski could cover much more ground than him. 

While he generated numerous attacks throughout the night, Kocevski contributed on the defense. With a little over 21 minutes left in the match, Kocevski snuck up from behind and stole the ball from Eagle midfielder Augustine Boadi. When Boston College was still trying to score in the waning minutes of the match, Kocevski made clearances.  

Christian Curti tried to make a clearance in the 82nd minute, but BC’s Amos Shapiro-Thompson recovered and forced an Eagle reset. Shapiro-Thompson ran down the right side of the box and attempted a cross. But the low ball to the center was immediately kicked out and away by Kocevski, keeping the match level. 

“Obviously, he’s very important to the way we play,” Biros said. “He does all the dirty work that really makes the game really easy to play. 

Published on October 28, 2022 at 11:14 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com