Syracuse loses 1-0 to No. 18 Clemson in 1st ACC match of season
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Ian McIntyre leaned on imagination when describing Ransford Gyan.
Because Syracuse’s head coach knows Gyan’s skill is the furthest thing from it. He was drafted 27th in the MLS SuperDraft by New York City FC this year. He chose to return to Clemson for another season and instantly helped the Tigers dismantle a Furman side that made last year’s College Cup. So McIntyre thought of what could be, albeit if the rules were slightly different.
“We asked permission to play an extra two players tonight,” McIntyre said. “He’s that good.”
The reality was that a win necessitated shutting down Gyan — who entered with five goals in four games, second-most in the country. SU almost did, limiting Gyan to one shot, but he got the better of Syracuse (3-2-0, 0-1-0 Atlantic Coast) in its 1-0 loss to No. 18 Clemson (4-1-0, 1-0-0 ACC) Friday. The Orange held the Tigers at six shots on target, despite getting outshot 19-6. Clemson’s lone goal, scored by Cooper Hineline in the 66th minute was assisted by Johannes Kack but orchestrated by a Gyan throughball.
The Orange never consistently strung together attacking chances, and their best looks came when Clemson’s backline lost possession deep in its own half. Yet SU couldn’t capitalize.
“We’ve just measured ourselves against one of the elite teams,” McIntyre said. “We weren’t good enough tonight, but this is a really tough test.”
The best first-half look came about 90 seconds in. Landon Darko tipped the ball to Nathan Scott near the top of the box, who found Sachiel Ming left of the penalty box. With a defender encroaching, he put it wide.
SU’s attack, typically fluid, was rigid. With Darko and Ming leading the 3-5-2 formation, Ming stayed back, and Darko seemed more like a solo striker.
On the other hand, Gyan, nominally a center forward, roamed the pitch freely. He played with masterful air, testing the Orange at every turn, frequently drifting toward the right wing, dueling Garrett Holman.
Yet Holman had the upper hand for most of the match.
Seventeen minutes in, a clever back heel stopped Holman in his tracks, while Buster Honeywood blocked the ensuing attacker. In the 28th minute, Gyan’s cross dropped into Xander Sevian at the penalty spot, but he put it over the bar. Moments later, Sevian found space at the edge of the box and released a curler, forcing a Kyle Jansen save.
“There’s a reason why (Gyan’s) arguably the best player in college soccer right now,” McIntyre said. “And they’ve got such a dynamic.”
That dynamic was stifled slightly when Pedro Gulli and Jordan Grey entered in the 28th minute, and Dario White and Pablo Patrick-Galvez did as well in the 38th. The substitutions provided stability, and the Orange began lengthening their possessions. The two strikers stayed further up, giving SU an attacking outlet.
WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT
Grey, Gulli have surpassed 2025’s attack. How’d SU fix its scoring problem?
Jordan Grey, Pedro Gulli and Sachiel Ming have contributed to seven of Syracuse’s 10 goals this season. It’s in stark contrast to last year.
But still, Clemson persisted. The Tigers’ best look of the half came with six minutes left. Alessio Andreottola, after beating Patrick-Galvez on the left wing, lofted a cross over the heads of Ivan Irinimbabazi, Honeywood and Holman as they trekked back.
It found Duncan Wilson at the back post, one-on-one with Jansen. Wilson mistimed his run, and his foot fell short of the ball as he slid.
But Syracuse never found the right response. Its only other first-half attempt besides Ming’s was Irinimbabazi’s skied shot in the 21st. It’d be SU’s only for 34 minutes, until Chimere Omeze missed a first-touch, close-range shot nine minutes into second-half play.
“In order to play against the best teams, you’ve got to try to put your body on the line,” McIntyre said. “Pick and choose your moments, and we had a couple of half chances.”
The Tigers, on the other hand, pressed forward.
Even with Gyan starting the second half on the bench, Clemson pounced on heavy Syracuse midfield touches, notching four shots in the half’s first 10 minutes, as SU scrambled to keep pace. Twice, Jansen was forced into one-on-one collisions, including one 20 feet outside his own box, resulting in a yellow card.
Gyan returned in the 61st. And with it, the lethality of Clemson’s attack. In six minutes, the junior found a breakthrough. Matched up again with Holman on the right wing, Gyan weaved a through ball past the SU defender. It found Remi Okunlola before Ming could catch up, and Okunlola put a cross in.
Irinimbabazi poked away the ball as Clemson swarmed the penalty area, but it fell to Kack, who calmly laid the ball off Hineline to cash in for a 1-0 lead.
“I thought we did really well in the second half until their goal,” McIntyre said. “Our guys are physically, emotionally drained. But you have to do that.”
Syracuse wouldn’t record a shot on target for the rest of the match. Nor would Gyan. The game returned to what it was before. Gyan dazzling with his dribbles and passes, while SU’s backline kept up.
But Gyan’s work was already done.
