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On Oct. 10 against Loyola Maryland, Giona Leibold got a pass from Olu Oyegunle on the left side. After a quick combination of passes, the ball found its way back to Leibold. 

He attacked on the flank, sending a hard-driven cross in front of goal, which was deflected by the Greyhounds’ keeper Konstantinos Parisis. Levonte Johnson collected the rebound, using his torso to tap it in for a goal.

The goal marked Leibold’s first assist on the year and fueled SU’s 6-1 rout over Loyola Maryland. Throughout the season, Syracuse has utilized the wide areas, particularly Leibold from the left side, to develop its offensive opportunities. From this position, Leibold has sent dangerous balls into the box or forced corners. In 11 starts, Leibold has three goals and one assist from the attacking midfielder position.

His three goals are already a significant improvement from his freshman season where he had zero goals on just eight shots. In 2022, Leibold’s already notched 19 shots, seven of which were on goal. 

“He had a good first year,” head coach Ian McIntyre said. “He’s getting a lot of attention because he’s playing terrific. He provides us balance.”

Leibold first got on Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre’s radar when his staff recruited his older brother, Noah, who played at Wisconsin from 2016 to 2019. Assistant coach Jukka Masalin met the Leibold family several years ago when recruiting Noah from Germany, and after learning Leibold had interest in Syracuse, Masalin maintained contact with him. 

In Germany, Leibold played on his hometown SV Wehen Wiesbaden’s academy team, competing in the second and third levels of the Bundesliga. He’s been invited to multiple German youth national team camps and has been in the national team pool at the U17 and U19 levels. 

Leibold said that the American collegiate game is a lot “faster” and more “aggressive” than what he is used to in Germany. It’s noticeable with the amount of substitutions teams make, where Leibold can be faced with a fresh defender that comes off the bench. 

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Syracuse often creates space on the flanks by developing play in the center of the field. The Orange use midfielders Jeorgio Kocevski and Lorenzo Boselli, or forwards Nathan Opoku and Johnson, to drop in and distribute the ball out wide to Leibold. 

“He’s just been another animal this year, getting the ball out to him and letting him do his thing,” Kocevski said. “We rely on him just getting the ball and runners in the box. We expect him to get it in there and for us to score.”

Against Notre Dame in September, Leibold scored the lone goal in the victory over the Fighting Irish. Opoku possessed the ball right outside of the 18 with Leibold trailing from the left. Leibold made a streaking run into space, which allowed Opoku to send a low, cross-field ball to him. Without a single defender within closing distance, Leibold smashed home his first goal of the season. 

In the second half against Loyola, Syracuse struggled to continue its scoring from the first half. McIntyre substituted out several starters before bringing back a five-person substitution which included Leibold.

In the 69th minute, Boselli played a through ball to Leibold, who made a cutting run toward the center of the field. Leibold took one touch with his right foot to get around the last Greyhound defender and scored. 

“I’m just trying to do what I’m best at, attacking players, going by them (and) whipping in crosses,” Leibold said. “It’s been going great so far, but I have to keep it up.”

Though Syracuse lost 2-1 to Cornell on Oct. 4, Leibold heavily influenced the game. He registered three shots with one on goal, but his impact was again on the left flank. Leibold crossed seven balls into the box for SU. 

“I’m a very strong mental person who knows what he’s good at,” Leibold said. “I just want to keep it up. Always use my strength.”  

Leibold played a quick give-and-go with Singelmann in the eighth minute, getting the ball in the left corner before forcing a corner kick. Leibold repeatedly sped around the Cornell outside back, but none of the services Leibold played were met with the head of a Syracuse player.

Leibold said his strongest performance came against Virginia Tech in September. After a Hokie corner kick was cleared, Johnson streaked from SU’s half into Virginia Tech’s. Following Johnson, Leibold continued his run just inside the box on the left side, where the forward dished it off. 

He one-touched the through ball, slotting it into the near post to give SU a 1-0 lead. The transition play took eight seconds. 

“When you got a player of his ability that draws attention, it creates spaces for other players,” McIntyre said. “We’ve benefitted from that this year. Hopefully he’s got some more goals and assists in him.”

Published on October 17, 2022 at 1:33 am

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini