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| (c) Jennifer Ready, 2014 |
Story and Video by Rilwan Ameen
SYRACUSE (Newhouse Sports Media Center) -- An 11-time NCAA National Champion usually does not face many crises in its storied program history. But with a 4-3 start to the season, and 0-3 in its first year in the ACC, the #8 Syracuse Orange (6-3 overall, 1-3 ACC) men's lacrosse team needed its thrilling 11-10 win against Notre Dame in the worst way.
So coming off of the emotional win Saturday, the Syracuse Orange came into Wednesday night riding a wave of momentum and looking to avert to another crisis against a Binghamton (3-6 overall, 1-0 America East) team coming a momentous victory of its own over Hartford on Saturday, 11-10.
A balanced effort for SU led the turnaround as the Orange had seven different players in on the scoring. Kevin Rice led SU overall with four points (two goals, two assists), along with Randy Staats, and Dylan Donahue all contributing in the winning effort with two goals apiece.
In addition teammates Nicky Galasso, Billy Ward, Scott Loy and Hakeem Lecky all scored on Cosens.
As a converted attack midfielder Galasso says the flow of the Orange continued the Syracuse groove.
"When you have a good match-up you're going to take it, being overplayed you move a bit and then feel a bit more comfortable" Galasso said.
Bearcats make it close
But the Bearcats scored the first two goals of the final quarter making it a 9-8 game with 7:22 left. Kevin Rice's final goal on an open net effectively ended the contest with 38 seconds remaining at 10-8.
After this one, it seems SU is getting a grasp of playing in tightly-contested games and continues to grow stronger from each game experience, while Binghamton can only wonder, "What if'?"
"They'll be a lot of what ifs after this one, especially after I look at the film, but I'm sure they can say the same thing," Nelson said.
Desko said he was pleased with his team's effort in guarding against a letdown after a big win.
"It was a good win for us, I was impressed with Binghamton," Desko said. "They did a good job... I never say this about a loss but my hats off to them, they played pretty well coming into the Carrier Dome."
With tough one possession losses throughout the season, Binghamton's Dan Mazurek said he feels the team has good reason to remain confident.
"Everyone in the locker room is still positive... we're on each other to get better everyday in practice, we'll be okay,"Mazurek said.
Syracuse leaves the Carrier Dome next, facing off against No. 2 Cornell next Tuesday April 8 in Ithaca. The draw is set for 7 P.M.
Recap:
To watch Syracuse Men's Lacrosse Head Coach John Desko and players Chris Daddio, Scott Loy and Nick Galasso address the media after SU's 10-8 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats at the Carrier Dome: click here: SYR Post-Game Presser
To watch Binghamton Men's Lacrosse Head Coach Scott Nelson and player Dan Mazurek address the media after BU's 10-8 loss click here: BING Post-Game Presser
To watch Rilwan Ameen's post-game report click here: Rilwan Ameen post-game report
To see the rest of Jennifer Ready's game photos click here: SYRvBING: 4/2/14 Game Photos
Note:
Photos by Jennifer Ready
SYRACUSE (Newhouse Sports Media Center) -- An 11-time NCAA National Champion usually does not face many crises in its storied program history. But with a 4-3 start to the season, and 0-3 in its first year in the ACC, the #8 Syracuse Orange (6-3 overall, 1-3 ACC) men's lacrosse team needed its thrilling 11-10 win against Notre Dame in the worst way.
So coming off of the emotional win Saturday, the Syracuse Orange came into Wednesday night riding a wave of momentum and looking to avert to another crisis against a Binghamton (3-6 overall, 1-0 America East) team coming a momentous victory of its own over Hartford on Saturday, 11-10.
The Orange climbed two spots in both the Inside Lacrosse (#7) and the USILA coaches' poll (#8) this week with its first ever win in the ACC and triumph over a top-ten ranked conference rival.
But what many did not foresee in their next game was a scrappy Binghamton Bearcat team despite its 3-5 record giving Syracuse a run for its money.
Binghamton played with heavy hearts as the Bearcats' primary goalkeeper Junior Max Schefler was out due to a death in the family, as Head Coach Scott Nelson revealed to the media.
It was a valiant substitute effort by freshman Tanner Cosens as he made some acrobatic saves in the first half.
"We gave Tanner his chance for his first college experience at the Carrier Dome on a Wednesday night and he did great," Nelson said. "We're very proud of him."
Back and forth
Binghamton struck quickly attacking the net and Syracuse's defense and it paid off with senior attacker Matt Springer scoring on an unassisted goal at just the 14:12 mark in the first period.
Binghamton played with heavy hearts as the Bearcats' primary goalkeeper Junior Max Schefler was out due to a death in the family, as Head Coach Scott Nelson revealed to the media.
It was a valiant substitute effort by freshman Tanner Cosens as he made some acrobatic saves in the first half.
"We gave Tanner his chance for his first college experience at the Carrier Dome on a Wednesday night and he did great," Nelson said. "We're very proud of him."
Back and forth
Binghamton struck quickly attacking the net and Syracuse's defense and it paid off with senior attacker Matt Springer scoring on an unassisted goal at just the 14:12 mark in the first period.
The theme of the night for SU was quick responses as attacker Dylan Donahue answered right back for the Orange with an unassisted goal to break any momentum Binghamton sought in the early going.
But errant passes early on led to some struggles for SU around the goal which the Bearcats took advantage of.
Tucker Nelson led Binghamton in points in the game with four (3 assists and one goal), keeping Binghamton within striking distance. He scored a bouncing unassisted goal at the net at the 1:37 mark of the first period.
Nelson said he was proud of his team's performance overall against a calculated Syracuse squad.
"It was a good back-and-forth game, it was slower paced... I was a little surprised... Syracuse really took their time out there," Nelson said.
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| (c) Rilwan Ameen, 2014 (L to R): SU Head Coach John Desko and Midfielders Chris Daddio, Scott Loy and Attacker Nick Galasso |
Tucker Nelson led Binghamton in points in the game with four (3 assists and one goal), keeping Binghamton within striking distance. He scored a bouncing unassisted goal at the net at the 1:37 mark of the first period.
Nelson said he was proud of his team's performance overall against a calculated Syracuse squad.
"It was a good back-and-forth game, it was slower paced... I was a little surprised... Syracuse really took their time out there," Nelson said.
Both teams were unrelenting as it was a one-possession game throughout the first half. Chris Daddio took the blame for a hot Binghamton start. He lost all six faceoffs in the first quarter and the Bearcats led 3-2.
"The beginning of the game was a bit of a poor start on my part... the first five and six minutes of the game got out of hand and I had to calm myself down a bit," he said.
But Daddio rallied to finish ten- 10-of-22 at the X and also picked up seven ground balls.
"The flow of the game kind of went with the faceoffs," SU Head Coach John Desko said. "Chris got out and relaxed, straight getting down with Dylan Donahue and it was a good release for him. It helped us down at the offensive end of the field."
Down one and with the restless home faithful chanting 'We are SU' Syracuse rose to the occasion. The Orange outscored Binghamton 3-1 in the second quarter to hold a 5-4 advantage at the half. But despite out-shooting Binghamton at goal attempts by eight (19-11),the Orange still trailed on faceoffs seven to four.
Changing angles gives Orange breathing room
"At halftime the coaches told us to change the angles of our dodges because their defense was packing it in and they were double-teaming a lot," Loy said. "Once we did that, we started to get more movement and we started putting the ball in the back of the net."
Unselfish ball movement got the Orange men the opening they needed to pull away, finding creases in Binghamton's backside defense leading to a three goal surge, the end of which came with Randy Staats scoring at the 4:48 mark in the third.
"We played a pretty even game up until then. I thought that the six minute spurt in the third, really hurt us when they got up by three," Nelson said.
"Things we had done well all night, we didn't do well in that stretch."
SU led 9-6 at the end of the third, in what seemed to be Syracuse's first time for breathing room all evening.
"The beginning of the game was a bit of a poor start on my part... the first five and six minutes of the game got out of hand and I had to calm myself down a bit," he said.
But Daddio rallied to finish ten- 10-of-22 at the X and also picked up seven ground balls.
"The flow of the game kind of went with the faceoffs," SU Head Coach John Desko said. "Chris got out and relaxed, straight getting down with Dylan Donahue and it was a good release for him. It helped us down at the offensive end of the field."
Down one and with the restless home faithful chanting 'We are SU' Syracuse rose to the occasion. The Orange outscored Binghamton 3-1 in the second quarter to hold a 5-4 advantage at the half. But despite out-shooting Binghamton at goal attempts by eight (19-11),the Orange still trailed on faceoffs seven to four.
Changing angles gives Orange breathing room
"At halftime the coaches told us to change the angles of our dodges because their defense was packing it in and they were double-teaming a lot," Loy said. "Once we did that, we started to get more movement and we started putting the ball in the back of the net."
Unselfish ball movement got the Orange men the opening they needed to pull away, finding creases in Binghamton's backside defense leading to a three goal surge, the end of which came with Randy Staats scoring at the 4:48 mark in the third.
"We played a pretty even game up until then. I thought that the six minute spurt in the third, really hurt us when they got up by three," Nelson said.
"Things we had done well all night, we didn't do well in that stretch."
SU led 9-6 at the end of the third, in what seemed to be Syracuse's first time for breathing room all evening.
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| (c) Rilwan Ameen, 2014 (L to R) Binghamton Head Coach Scott Nelson and Midfielder Dan Mazurek |
A balanced effort for SU led the turnaround as the Orange had seven different players in on the scoring. Kevin Rice led SU overall with four points (two goals, two assists), along with Randy Staats, and Dylan Donahue all contributing in the winning effort with two goals apiece.
In addition teammates Nicky Galasso, Billy Ward, Scott Loy and Hakeem Lecky all scored on Cosens.
As a converted attack midfielder Galasso says the flow of the Orange continued the Syracuse groove.
"When you have a good match-up you're going to take it, being overplayed you move a bit and then feel a bit more comfortable" Galasso said.
Bearcats make it close
But the Bearcats scored the first two goals of the final quarter making it a 9-8 game with 7:22 left. Kevin Rice's final goal on an open net effectively ended the contest with 38 seconds remaining at 10-8.
After this one, it seems SU is getting a grasp of playing in tightly-contested games and continues to grow stronger from each game experience, while Binghamton can only wonder, "What if'?"
"They'll be a lot of what ifs after this one, especially after I look at the film, but I'm sure they can say the same thing," Nelson said.
Desko said he was pleased with his team's effort in guarding against a letdown after a big win.
"It was a good win for us, I was impressed with Binghamton," Desko said. "They did a good job... I never say this about a loss but my hats off to them, they played pretty well coming into the Carrier Dome."
With tough one possession losses throughout the season, Binghamton's Dan Mazurek said he feels the team has good reason to remain confident.
"Everyone in the locker room is still positive... we're on each other to get better everyday in practice, we'll be okay,"Mazurek said.
Syracuse leaves the Carrier Dome next, facing off against No. 2 Cornell next Tuesday April 8 in Ithaca. The draw is set for 7 P.M.
Recap:
To watch Syracuse Men's Lacrosse Head Coach John Desko and players Chris Daddio, Scott Loy and Nick Galasso address the media after SU's 10-8 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats at the Carrier Dome: click here: SYR Post-Game Presser
To watch Binghamton Men's Lacrosse Head Coach Scott Nelson and player Dan Mazurek address the media after BU's 10-8 loss click here: BING Post-Game Presser
To watch Rilwan Ameen's post-game report click here: Rilwan Ameen post-game report
To see the rest of Jennifer Ready's game photos click here: SYRvBING: 4/2/14 Game Photos
Note:
- Fairly clean game played from both sides: at the half both Syracuse and Binghamton had no penalties and no 30-second goals/warnings (Violations)
- Binghamton's first score of the game came just 50 seconds in and in the second half opened with a netter in the opening two minutes
- Binghamton's T.J. DiSanto helped the Bearcats win their first four faceoffs but injured his hamstring and did not return to action
- Binghamton had eight different goal-scorers on the night
- Binghamton won 12-of-22 face-offs in the game
- The Orange held the advantage in shots (31-25) and in groundballs (28-24)
- SU gives Binghamton its first road loss of the season
- Syracuse's three losses have been to top ten teams - #3 Duke, #4 Maryland and #9 Virginia
- Syracuse currently has the #3 ranked RPI (which measures strength of schedule based off of opponents' records) in the nation: according to MLAX RPI Rankings
- Carrier Dome crowd attendance for the game was 1,847 per SU Athletics
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