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Syracuse remained No. 7 in the weekly United Soccer Coaches poll following a 3-0 win at Virginia Tech last Friday. The Orange (8-1-1, 3-1-0, Atlantic Coast) are one of three ACC teams in the top-10, behind No. 2 Duke and No. 4 Wake Forest. 

On Friday, Syracuse excelled in transition, highlighted by an eight-second transition by Levonte Johnson on a Hokie corner kick. After Virginia Tech played a short corner before crossing it in, Amferny Sinclair headed the ball into Johnson’s path, who originally started the corner near SU’s own penalty box.

Johnson used massive dribbles to get past multiple Hokie defenders before laying the ball off to a trailing Giona Leibold on the left flank, which resulted in Leibold’s 28th-minute goal to put SU up 1-0. On its second goal in the 52nd minute, the play began with a Russell Shealy goal-kick before a couple of flicks and passes on the other end allowed Noah Singelmann to score his first goal of the season. Nathan Opoku sealed the victory with SU’s third goal of the night in the 84th minute.

Previously, the Orange ranked as high as No. 3 following a 2-1 win at then-No. 1 Clemson, but they slipped four spots a week ago after a last-minute loss to Virginia. Still, the Orange have only conceded three goals all season, averaging just .30 goals against per game, the best mark in the country.