Syracuse Holds Off Army, Avenges NCAA Loss
from press release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 2 Syracuse (2-0)
jumped in front of No. 18 Army early and turned back a furious
rally by the Black Knights to record an 11-9 triumph on Sunday,
Feb. 27 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange led 7-0 in the first
quarter and 9-3 at halftime. But Army (1-2) closed the gap to 10-9
in the fourth quarter before a goal by senior Jeremy Thompson with
1:06 to play sealed the game.
“Army kept playing like they always do and their goalie (Tom
Palesky) came alive for three quarters,” SU head coach John
Desko said. “He played a superb game. Fortunately, we came
alive at the end of the fourth quarter, made some things happen and
forced them to come out and play us and we were able to put a
couple more goals in to seal the deal.”
It was Syracuse’s 15th win in the last 17 meetings with Army
and the victory avenged a 9-8, double-overtime loss at the hands of
the Black Knights in the first round of last year’s NCAA
Tournament.
Sophomore JoJo Marasco tied his career high with five points (3g,
2a) for the Orange, including his second career hat trick. Redshirt
junior Tim Desko turned in a career performance, finishing with
three goals. Thompson and classmate Jovan Miller also scored twice
for Syracuse.
Syracuse came out firing on all cylinders early on. The Orange
scored three times in the first three minutes and led 7-1 after the
first period. It was a dominating quarter by the hosts. Syracuse
outshot the Black Knights, 9-1, and won six of the quarter’s
nine faceoffs. Marasco and Desko each scored twice in the period.
Marasco’s second goal gave the Orange a 7-0 lead at the 3:31
mark. Finally, Garrett Thul converted a man-up chance on the Black
Knights’ first shot of the game with 34 seconds to go in the
opening stanza to get Army on the scoreboard.
Miller opened the second-quarter scoring with a laser from 12
yards out to extend the lead to 8-1. After tallies by Jeremy Boltus
and Thul, Marasco struck again with 2:34 left before halftime to
give the hosts six-goal advantage, 9-3, at the intermission.
Marasco’s goal proved to be the last for the Orange until
the fourth quarter. Army’s defense stiffened and held
Syracuse without a goal for next 26:43. In the meantime, the Black
Knights went on a four-goal run to close the gap to 9-7 with 6:35
to go in regulation. Brandon Butler drew Army within five, 9-4, on
a transition goal at the 9:18 mark of the third quarter. Pat
Brennan, Tyler Kamide and Rob McCallion all followed with goals to
pull the Black Knights within two.
Desko finally stopped the Orange scoring drought with 5:51 to
play, increasing SU’s advantage to 10-7 with an unassisted
goal. But McCallion found the cage himself with 3:26 left, then
connected with Thul for a goal at the 2:15 mark to trim the the SU
advantage to 10-9.
After Thul cut it to one, Thompson won the next faceoff and the
Orange put the ball in Marasco’s stick to take time off the
clock. Marasco successfully evaded the Army defense for more than a
minute before being trapped by two defenders. He was knocked to the
ground, but rolled the ball to Thompson, who scooped it up and
scored to push the SU lead to 11-9. Senior Tim Harder won the
ensuing faceoff to give possession to the Orange and Syracuse
successfully ran out the clock.
“We worked on that in practice and I tried to stay up top so
they couldn’t come up and double me and the goalie couldn't
come out of the net,” Marasco said of the Orange’s last
goal. “I was able to move the ball pretty well and protect my
stick, but then they came up and doubled me. I tried to stay on my
feet as best as I could and Jeremy was there to help me get the
ball in the net.”
Orange senior goalie John Galloway registered nine saves in the
contest, including seven in the second half, to record his 46th
career win. He is one shy of tying the Syracuse career wins record
of 47 held by Jay Pfeifer. Galloway’s nine stops increased
his career saves total to 471, passing Alex Rosier (466 saves) for
ninth on SU’s all-time list.
Thul led the way with three goals for Army. McCallion and Boltus
also recorded three points for the Black Knights. McCallion
finished with two goals and one assist, while Boltus contributed
one goal and a team-best two assists. Palesky made nine saves in
the cage, including six in the second quarter, to help keep Army in
the game.
After Syracuse dominated the statistics early, things evened out
in the final three quarters. The Orange finished with a 34-28
advantage in shots and a 28-22 edge in ground balls. Syracuse also
won 14 of the game’s 23 faceoffs. The Orange was 6-for-8 at
the X in the fourth quarter, including the two crucial wins by
Thompson and Harder in the final 2:15 that helped secure the
victory.
The Orange closes out its three-game homestand on Friday, March 4
when it hosts top-ranked Virginia at 6 p.m. inside the Carrier
Dome. The game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU. Fans are
encouraged to purchase tickets in advance and arrive early to the
Dome Friday. A large crowd is expected.
Game Notes: Senior long-stick midfielder Joel White collected
three ground balls to move into a tie with Mike Powell for 10th on
the SU career list with 211 ground balls … The 2011 campaign
marks the fourth straight year Syracuse has started the season 2-0
… The Orange held its 13th consecutive opponent to
single-digit goals … Desko improved his career coaching
record to 9-2 all-time against the Black Knights.
