Kyle Jansen went unused for 2 years. Now, he’s Syracuse’s starting GK.
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The perception of a goalkeeper can change drastically.
If you make numerous saves and record clean sheets, you’re revered as the team’s reason for success. If you don’t, you can regularly be labeled the cause of failure. Simply put, they’re judged — fairly and unfairly — by how they handle the strain of being the last line of defense.
Some goalkeepers, however, never get a chance to show whether they can handle that pressure at a high level.
Until this year, Kyle Jansen was one of those goalies. A captain for Ian McIntyre’s side in 2026, the 6-foot-2 junior from Marietta, Georgia, played his first game for Syracuse (1-1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) against then-No. 24 UConn, which SU beat 2-1 on Aug. 20. The former Under-17 South African international and Atlanta United Academy goalkeeper had backed up Tomas Hut, who ended his SU career in very impressive form, for the last two years.
And while Jansen’s performances against the Huskies and New Hampshire haven’t been as eye-catching as Hut’s in 2025, he’s assumed one of soccer’s more daunting positions like a seasoned veteran.
“(I’ve) been doing everything I can the last two years to prove myself,” Jansen said.
It was never guaranteed that Jansen would become McIntyre’s No. 1. Of course, as the backup, there’s the assumption he’s the next man up. Jansen had hoped so, especially since he and the coaching staff, which includes McIntyre’s right-hand man, Jukka Masalin, and goalkeeper coach Matty Evans, discussed him becoming their 2026 starter last year.
SU’s coaching staff wanted to give Jansen game experience before this season. Ideally, Jansen was supposed to play during the nonconference portion of SU’s 2025 schedule if it led by multiple goals. But since all six of the Orange’s opening nonconference matches were either scoreless or single-goal encounters, that chance was void.
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If the opportunity came, Jansen believed he would’ve been ready. His training dynamic with Hut was rooted in both wanting to start. Jansen credits it for how Syracuse’s 2025 success went hand-in-hand with Hut’s heroics — none greater than his nine saves in a 3-0 ACC Tournament Quarterfinal win over then-No. 5 and eventual NCAA College Cup Championship finalist NC State.
“I was impacting the team in whatever way that I could,” Jansen said.
Jansen was in Syracuse’s 2024 recruiting class, along with Garrett Holman, Sachiel Ming, Kristjan Fortier, Chimere Omeze and Kelvin Da Costa. All of them except Jansen have played over 20 matches for SU but had to wait to play significant minutes for McIntyre. But playing goalie meant Jansen likely wouldn’t play as much, or as quickly, as the others.
That sentiment was communicated when Jansen committed to Syracuse. After Hut won the starting job over junior Jahiem Wickham and senior Jason Smith in 2024, Jansen redshirted his freshman year.
Hut transferred from Army after making 14 of 35 possible starts in two years. Transferring is a decision many goalkeepers, who tend to improve with age, face in college soccer. Jansen never considered that. Syracuse was always where he wanted to be because of the school and conference’s stature, as well as the coaching staff’s transparency about how he could improve and eventually start.
A few days before Syracuse began its season against UConn, Evans told Jansen he’d start. It was a special moment for Jansen and marked a defensive overhaul, as McIntyre gave debuts to Jansen, Gabriel Oksanen and Buster Honeywood, while moving Holman to left back and Ivan Irinimbabzi to center back.
The perception of Jansen as a college-level goalkeeper can still change drastically. With at least 14 games left in 2026, including one at SU Soccer Stadium Friday against Loyola, Jansen has many varying tests ahead.
Yet after two years of waiting to be SU’s starter, he can finally show his worth for a Syracuse side that only sees putting a second star above its crest as a successful campaign.
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Jansen said.
