Story, Photo &
Postgame Video by Robin Deehan
SYRACUSE, N.Y. –
The No. 4 Syracuse men’s lacrosse team had a lot to celebrate Tuesday evening
in the Carrier Dome as it honored 16 seniors and retained the Kraus-Simmons
trophy in a 18-5 steamrolling of the Hobart Statesmen in the 101st
meeting between the two teams.
Coming off a 17-15 loss to ACC rival North
Carolina and only two days rest, the Orange (9-2, 2-2 ACC) outplayed the Statesmen
(7-4, 4-0) in every aspect of the game, outshooting them 52-26, picking up 30 to
their 18 groundballs, and winning 17 of 25 faceoffs.
“Coming off our North Carolina game it was good going out
there against a different opponent,” head coach John Desko said. “I thought our
guys came out excited to play, we got through a little bit of senioritis
through the first quarter, then I think our guys came alive and we did what we
wanted to do tonight in all facets of the game.”
Seniors Shine on
Senior Night
Brenny Daly, Dylan Donahue, Nicky Galasso, Tom Grimm, Mike
Iacono, Hakeem Lecky, Peter Macartney, Niko Manning, Mike Messina, Kevin Rice,
Henry Schoonmaker, Randy Staats, Chris Swanson, Bobby Tait, Bobby Wardwell and
Sean Young were honored in a pregame ceremony as part of senior night.
The class of 2015 has an overall record of 45-19 and, as a
group, has won three conference championships and led the Orange to three NCAA
appearances including a berth in the 2013 national championship game.
“I find myself feeling similar every year, you have guys
that’ve been with you four or five years and they have a special place and you
always think that you can’t replace them [the seniors],” Desko said.
Six seniors combined for 13 of the Orange’s 18
goals on the night with Donahue starting things off just a minute and 13
seconds into the game.
The Orange capitalized on eight first half turnovers, sloppy passes and bad shots by the Statesmen with Lecky, Nick
Weston, Donahue, Rice, Staats, Galasso and Daly all finding the back of the
cage to send the SU into halftime with a 12-0 lead.
And the Orange didn’t let up at the start of the third
quarter as Staats, who is recently back from a lower body injury after missing
three games, scored back-to-back goals within the first three minutes.
“Getting a couple there built my confidence so it
helped me a lot today,” Staats said.
Hobart finally got on the board with eight minutes left to
play in the third quarter when Gavin Llewellyn scored unassisted.
Hobart added a few more goals thanks to some Syracuse personnel
adjustments, but the Orange men's lead was too much, and stellar saves from back-up
goalies Warren Hill and Evan Molloy ensured the Kraus-Simmons trophy place in
Syracuse.
“It was a perfect storm really, it was a combination of us
playing very poorly and 'Cuse being a very good team,” Hobart head coach Greg
Raymond said. “I thought that our young team was a little bit shell-shocked in
the Dome here.”
“Some of the younger guys have been working really hard and
are part of our scout groups and doing a lot of things that are very important
to the team,” Desko said. “It was nice they got to get out on the field tonight
in a game situation to show what they can do."
Staats finished with six points on four goals and two
assists while Rice chipped in with four on two goals and two assists.
Faceoff specialist Ben Williams won eight of nine
face-offs, Cal Paduda picked up six, Joe Demarco two and true freshman Max Parker
one at the X.
Bobby Wardwell finished with four saves in 38 minutes of
play while Hill recorded five and Molloy two.
Kraus-Simmons Trophy
The Kraus-Simmons trophy has been presented to the victor of
the Syracuse-Hobart showdown every year since 1986 to honor National Lacrosse
Hall of Fame coaches Roy Simmons Sr. of Syracuse and Babe Kraus of Hobart.
Although the Orange has won 26 of the 29 meetings since the
trophy has been awarded, in 2013 Hobart stunned Syracuse in the Carrier Dome
13-12 to take it back to Boswell field.
The Orange recaptured the trophy last season with a 15-9 win
and ensured its presence in Syracuse this year with a little help from another
Simmons.
Ryan Simmons, the great grandson of Roy Simmons Sr. scored
twice in Tuesday night’s 18-5 whipping to net his fourth and fifth career
goals.
“I think it was a good game for us tonight and we were able
to keep the Simmons-Kraus trophy here in Syracuse,” Desko said. “I played for Roy Simmons Jr. and
coached with him for 19 years and got to know Roy Simmons Sr. very well in that
time frame so it’s pretty neat with a Simmons on the staff, Roy III, and Ryan
getting a couple goals tonight was kind of cool, that was nice.”
Donahue Joins 100
Club & Rice on a Roll
Donahue’s three goals for a career total of 102 made
him the 23rd Syracuse player to reach the 100 goal club.
“I don’t really think about it,” Donahue said.
“I’m just looking forward to the next game.”
Rice’s two goals also extended his scoring streak to 26
games, the second longest scoring streak in the country.
Up Next
The Orange will head to Chester, Pa. for the
ACC tournament on Friday, April 24
The Orange men are guaranteed the 3rd seed in the
tournament and will play either Notre Dame or North Carolina in the semifinal. The No.1 Fighting Irish and No.2 Tar Heels play the ACC regular season finale this Saturday at Notre Dame.
Syracuse is 2-2 in ACC play with its only losses coming on
road games against Notre Dame (12-13 2OT) and North Carolina (15-17).
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