Defense Leads 'Cuse Over Rutgers
from press release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The fifth-ranked Orange
men’s lacrosse team received a dominating performance from
its defense and cruised to a 10-3 win against Rutgers in front of
5,112 fans at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, April 11. The three
goals allowed by the Orange matched its season low. The Orange also
limited Providence to three goals in the season opener on Feb.
15.
With the victory, Syracuse improved to 9-2 overall and 7-1 at home
this season. Rutgers is now 4-8.
Syracuse shut out the Scarlet Knights in the first half and kept
them off the scoreboard for 31:42 to start the game before Justin
Pennington scored Rutgers’ first goal with 13:18 remaining in
the third period. However by that time, Syracuse led 6-0 and was
well on its way to the triumph.
The scoring drought marked the second time this season the Orange
defense held an opponent without a goal for more than 30 minutes, a
feat it also achieved against the Friars.
SU goalie John Galloway was on his game from the start and finished
with eight saves in three quarters of action. The sophomore had six
saves in the first half, including two early stops on Jeff Rommel
and Pennington. Junior Al Cavalieri played the fourth quarter and
made four saves.
SU’s stingy defense served as a spark for the offense as two
of its five goals in the first half were the result of caused
turnovers.
Ahead 1-0, the Orange extended its advantage to two after a vicious
hit by senior defenseman Sid Smith resulted in a turnover that led
to a transition goal by junior Chris Daniello with 5:03 left in the
opening quarter. Another miscue by Rutgers led to SU’s third
goal as sophomore long pole Joel White intercepted a pass, raced
across midfield and dumped the ball in to classmate Stephen Keogh
for an easy score to push the hosts’ lead to 3-0 with 5:51 to
go in the first half.
For White it was just the beginning of his offensive contribution.
A little over three minutes later, he gave the Orange a 4-0 lead
when he tried to thread a pass to Keogh, but Keogh moved his stick
and the ball zipped right past Rutgers goalie Billy Olin and into
the cage. A Kenny Nims goal with four seconds left in the quarter
extended the SU lead to 5-0 at the half.
Syracuse increased its lead to six as Daniello opened the second
half with an unassisted goal, and the Orange outscored the Scarlet
Knights, 4-1, overall in the third quarter to claim a 9-1 lead and
seal the victory.
Offensively, Keogh and Daniello both had hat tricks for the second
straight game. Daniello’s three goals equaled his personal
best. Nims also finished with three points (1g, 2a) on the day to
extend his scoring streak to 27 games.
Midfielder Gerhard Buehning notched the last two goals of the game
to pace Rutgers. Olin finished with seven saves in a little more
than 52 minutes of action in goal. Backup Peter Pantages played the
remainder of the contest and had two saves.
Syracuse dominated the Scarlet Knights in the faceoff circle
Saturday, winning 10 of the game’s 14 draws, including seven
of the eight faceoffs in the second half. Junior Gavin Jenkinson
paced the Orange at the X, going 7-for-9 (.778).
The Orange returns to action on Friday, April 17 with a 7 p.m.
match against Albany at the Carrier Dome. The game will be
televised live in Central New York on Time Warner 26.
Game Notes: The Orange improved to 15-1 all-time against the
Scarlet Knights in the Carrier Dome … SU has won the last
five meetings with the Scarlet Knights … SU improved to 7-0
this season when scoring the game’s first goal … The
contest marked White’s first career multi-point game …
The last time the Orange shut out a team for an entire half was on
April 26, 2008 versus Massachusetts.
