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After winning its first national championship in program history on Dec. 12, five Syracuse players have been selected for the 2023 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The five selections were the most of any program.

Defender Abdi Salim was the first player from the Orange taken off the board, getting selected 17th overall by Orlando City SC. Later in the draft, the Vancouver Whitecaps selected striker Levonte Johnson with the 29th overall pick — the final pick of the first round.  Amferny Sinclair, Russell Shealy and Buster Sjoberg were also drafted in the next two rounds by Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy and Vancouver, respectively. The five selections were the most of any program.

Salim returned to Syracuse’s backline after he tore his ACL during the spring 2021 season. He went on to miss the entire 2021 season, recovering from the injury. But after working consistently with the SU trainers and playing with the Ocean City Nor’easters, a USL League Two team, in the spring, Salim returned to the Orange lineup in the team’s season-opener against Iona on Aug. 25.

“He’s way more aggressive and seems a little bit quicker to the ball,” said Saleman Salim, Abdi’s older brother. “He’s not 100% fit, but you could see right away he’s more aggressive and hungrier than before.” 

While Salim was in and out of the lineup in the early portions of the season, but finally got a full 90-minute start in Syracuse’s 2-1 victory over then-No. 1 Clemson. With 20 minutes left in the first half. In that particular match, Salim got into aerial battles with some of the Tigers’ attackers. While this would force Salim to fall head first into the ground, he immediately got back up and got back into his position in the backline. 

He remained in the starting lineup for all of the postseason, using his trademark physicality and aggressiveness to stifle opponents like Creighton, the top-scoring offense in the country, in the College Cup semifinals. In the Orange’s eight postseason matches, the backline recorded three shutouts, including North Carolina, Virginia and Cornell.

Like Salim, Johnson came to Syracuse as a transfer. He moved to Syracuse in early 2022 following a season at Seattle where he scored nine goals and 26 points in 22 matches. He transferred to SU after interest in him during last year’s MLS SuperDraft fell through. 

“He is a very good passer,” Seattle head coach Pete Fewing said. “He’s very comfortable taking the shot too, which is great. He doesn’t hesitate when he decides it’s time to pull the trigger.”

Johnson played in the spring season with the Orange before officially starting his SU career with an assist against Iona on Aug. 25. He notched his first career goal with Syracuse on Sept. 2 in a 1-1 draw against Vermont. From there, Johnson became one of the Orange’s leading scorers, finishing the regular season with 11 goals and 28 points. The Brampton, Ontario, native also led all of Division-I with eight game-winning goals. Half of those game-winners came during SU’s postseason run.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals against North Carolina, Johnson took a long punt from Shealy all the way down the pitch. Eventually, he tapped the ball in between the opposing goalkeeper’s legs to give the Orange a 1-0 victory. In SU’s first NCAA Tournament game against Penn, Johnson scored in the second extra period to advance Syracuse to the Sweet 16.

In the Elite 8 against Vermont, he received a cross from fellow SU striker Nathan Opoku to give the Orange a 2-1 lead. And in the College Cup against Creighton, he scored with less than five minutes to go in regulation.

Johnson is currently one of the three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the highest honor given to a college soccer player. The fellow finalists included Creighton’s Duncan McGuire and Duke’s Peter Stroud. The winner will be announced on Jan. 6, 2023, in St. Louis, Missouri.

While Johnson didn’t score in regulation against Indiana in the national championship, he did score his penalty shot to level the battle at 6-6, which help set up Sinclair’s penalty kick in the eighth round. 

Sinclair, SU’s captain, kicked the game-winning penalty kick to give the Orange the title following an Indiana miss.He was selected 45th overall in the second round by Real Salt Lake. Even before coming to Syracuse, Sinclair had global experiences, playing for the Costa Rican youth national teams in U20 World Cup qualifiers. Sinclair may not record goals, but he becomes an offensive and defensive facilitator from his defensive midfield position. 

Prior to Sinclair’s game-winning penalty kick, Shealy made a diving save against the Hoosiers’ Maouloune Goumballe. The goalkeeper said he knew Goumballe was going left and he had made clutch stops through Syracuse’s entire postseason run. He made 26 saves in eight ACC and NCAA Tournament matches.

Shealy, selected  came to Syracuse after spending two seasons with Maryland as a backup goalkeeper. He watched from the sidelines as the Terrapins won the 2018 national championship. In 2021, Shealy split time with fellow keeper Lucas Daunhauer. The two keepers split time early on before Shealy emerged as the clear starter. He went on to finish on the All-ACC second time as a keeper.

While Sjoberg missed six of the eight postseason matches, he was a staple on the SU backline throughout the regular season. He came to the Orange from Wofford, using his quickness and ability to read the field to lead the defense. Throughout the season, Sjoberg was the vocal leader on the backline, constantly communicating with his fellow defenders and Shealy. Through the last two seasons, Sjoberg was always in the lineup and also provided crucial tackles from the center back position.

Besides the MLS, midfielder Colin Biros was drafted by Utica City FC with the fourth overall pick in the Major Arena Soccer League College draft. Biros, who played in the national championship in his freshman year with Akron in 2018, scored the Orange’s fifth penalty kick against Indiana.

Published on December 21, 2022 at 7:01 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com