Liverpool’s Jeorgio Kocevski lived ‘a dream come true’ during Syracuse soccer’s 2022 title season

Syracuse, N.Y. – For seven or eight years, beginning when he was 10, Jeorgio Kocevski would attend Syracuse University men’s soccer games with his dad.

Initially, he would watch the first half and then succumb to the predictable attention span of a 10-year-old and wander to an open field to “mess around.” But as he got older and as his soccer skills got better, Kocevski stayed glued to the action in front of him.

He would eventually blossom into a prep star at the Empire United Soccer Academy in Rochester. The Liverpool native would agree to play for the hometown college team he’d spent so much time watching over the years.

Last season, Kocevski, then a junior midfielder, was a valuable member of SU’s national championship season. He is still processing the fairy-tale quality of his soccer journey.

“I always wanted to be in these shoes where I am now,” he said. “Everything that happened last year was a dream come true, really.”

Kocevski spoke Thursday afternoon during SU’s men’s soccer media day. The Orange is coming off a 19-2-4 national championship season, its dramatic win over Indiana on penalty kicks the difference between triumph and heartbreak.

Syracuse enters the year ranked No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll.

The Orange will host three preseason scrimmage games: On Saturday against Canisius, next Wednesday against St. Bonaventure and on Aug. 19 against Marist. SU opens its season Aug. 24 at home against Providence. Game times are 7 p.m.

The team looks only vaguely like it did last December, when the program won its first national title in school history. Players have departed for professional opportunities. One, Nathan Opoku, 22, signed to play in the Premier League with Leicester City and was immediately loaned to OH Leuven in Belgium. New transfers and freshmen have infiltrated the Syracuse roster.

Syracuse University midfielder Jeorgio Kocevski during the 2022 men’s soccer season. (Syracuse athletics photo)

Kocevski, a midfielder, returns as one of the team’s most valuable players. He tallied more points last season than any returning Orange man. And his experience and leadership, said coach Ian McIntyre, will be important elements to a team formulating an early identity.

“He’s been part of our engine room,” McIntyre said. “Big part of last year and now also assuming more of a leadership role on our team.”

Kocevski, who turns 21 later this month, played last spring and summer for the Long Island Rough Riders in the USL League Two, billed as the top pre-professional league in North America. That experience, he said, kept him in constant game shape and tested his skills and mental acuity.

An All-ACC third team selection, Kocevski made the ACC tournament team and the NCAA tournament team last year. He recorded career highs in goals (5), assists (4) and points (14) in 2022.

“I think I’ve grown as a player in terms of my physicality,” said Kocevski, who is 6-foot-1 and weighs 175. “I think as a freshman I was a little bit scared, a little bit tentative. Now I think I’ve gotten more involved in the games in terms of scoring, assisting.”

He wants to continue to control the ball through the midfield, control the tempo of the game and boost his scoring totals from a year ago. He recognizes how much his team will depend on his leadership ability and said he likes the way his team has coalesced so far.

This SU team, he said, “is big on culture.” Guys get to the locker room early for practice to hang out. He senses their determination to prove last season was no fluke.

McIntyre talked Thursday about the importance of recognizing local talent and keeping those players in Syracuse.

Kocevski was one of those guys.

“We knew we had a really special player but also a good person,” McIntyre said.

Last season, fans packed the SU Soccer Stadium to watch the Orange put together its historic run.

When Kocevski was one of those spectators all those years ago, fans might have been as passionate. But they were not, he said, as plentiful.

A championship run prompted area soccer people to turn out to see for themselves.

“We created a lot of attention around ourselves, having such a good year last year,” Kocevski said. “I think the World Cup created a lot of buzz around soccer, so that helped. Messi coming into the United States this year is hopefully going to help it even more.”

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