Syracuse Bounces Back to Beat Georgetown
from press release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The second-ranked Orange
(3-1, 1-0) got five points each from juniors Stephen Keogh and Josh
Amidon on its way to a 15-12 win versus No. 11 Georgetown (2-2,
1-1) in its inaugural BIG EAST Conference game on Saturday, March
13 at the Carrier Dome.
Keogh tied his career high with five goals and Amidon registered a
personal-best four goals and one assist. For Keogh, it was the 12th
time in his career that he scored at least three goals in a game
and the performance extended his point-scoring streak to 26
games.
In addition, the Orange received four points from senior Chris
Daniello (2g, 2a) and three points each from senior Cody Jamieson
(2g, 1a) and junior Jeremy Thompson (1g, 2a) to help record its
fourth straight win against Georgetown.
A week after scoring five extra-man goals at Virginia,
Syracuse’s man-up offense remained red hot against the Hoyas
and was one of the keys to the victory. The Orange went 4-for-6 on
extra-man opportunities Saturday and tallied a pair of man-up goals
late in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Despite Syracuse’s plethora of offensive stars, the Hoyas led
2-1 in the early going. Then Keogh took over. He scored four
straight goals in the span of 7:29, including two on feeds from
Daniello, to give the Orange a 5-2 advantage with 2:32 left in the
opening period.
A transition goal by Georgetown defender Chris Nixon with 46
seconds to go in the first stopped the run. But Daniello found the
cage on a sidearm shot with one second showing on the clock to
extend the SU margin to 6-3 after the initial 15 minutes.
The Orange led by four (9-5) after Amidon scored his second of the
day with 4:34 left in the first half and maintained a four-goal
cushion (11-7) at the intermission.
With the Orange threatening to pull away, Georgetown regrouped in
the third quarter. The Hoyas won all three faceoffs in the frame
and Scott Kocis tallied the only two goals for either side to draw
Georgetown to within 11-9 heading into the fourth period.
After a goal by Amidon 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, Ryan
Shuler tallied back-to-back goals for the Hoyas to make it a
one-goal game (12-11) with 7:36 to play.
But like he’s done so often this season, Thompson seized the
momentum back for the Orange. He won the faceoff after
Shuler’s second goal, streaked into the box and scored six
seconds after Shuler to ignite a 3-0 Syracuse run that sealed the
game.
Junior goalie John Galloway posted his fourth straight double-digit
save total to help lead Syracuse. He faced 39 Hoya shots,
including 25 that were put on goal, and finished with 13 saves.
Shuler paced the Hoyas with three goals. He also tacked on an
assist to finish with four points on the day. Craig Dowd also had
four points for Geogetown, assisting on four of the team’s
five second-half goals.
Georgetown goalie Jack Davis played the first half and surrendered
11 goals, while making six saves. He was replaced at the start of
the third quarter by C.T. Fisher after experiencing back spasms.
Fisher played the remainder of the game and recorded two saves in
the fourth period.
Saturday’s victory increased the Orange’s lead to 15-5
in the all-time series with the Hoyas and improved head coach John
Desko’s record to 12-3 all-time versus Georgetown.
The Orange will have a week to prepare for its next opponent
– Johns Hopkins. Syracuse will visit Homewood Field on
Saturday, March 20 to take on the archrival Blue Jays. Faceoff is
at 8 p.m. and the game will be televised live nationally on
ESPNU.
Game Notes: Junior close defender John Lade made his first start of
the season against Georgetown … He missed the team’s
first three games due to injury … The Orange’s 11
first-half goals were the most for the team in any half this year
… Syracuse held the advantage in ground balls (36-26)
against Georgetown and improved its record to 27-2 since the start
of 2008 when winning the ground ball battle … Redshirt
sophomore Tim Desko tied his career high with two assists against
the Hoyas … Junior longstick middie Joel White registered
his first point of the year with an assist in the second
quarter.
