HAMILTON, N.Y. – In
a clash of conference champions, the No. 1 Syracuse men’s lacrosse team held
off No. 12 Colgate 9-7 Saturday afternoon at Andy Kerr Stadium to close out
regular season play.
ACC winner Syracuse heads into the NCAA tournament with a
12-2 record while Patriot League victor Colgate dropped to 10-5.
“To get a win here today is big for us because it gives us
that much more experience,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “It was good
to come out with a W and gut it out here today.”
A Close First Half
After Colgate jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, Nicky Galasso
and Dylan Donahue netted back-to-back goals less than a minute apart to even
the score at three.
Donahue along with Randy Staats and Kevin Rice then went on
a three-goal scoring run in the second quarter to give the Orange their first
lead of the game at 6-5 with 4:49 left to play before the half.
But with just 14 seconds left on the clock, Anthony
Abbadessa made a drive to the cage to thread one past SU goalie Bobby Wardwell
and even the score back up and send both teams into the locker room tied at six
goals apiece.
Second Half Penalties
Colgate’s best chance to pull ahead of Syracuse came in the
third quarter when both Rice and Brandon Mullins were sidelined for penalties
forcing the Orange to play two men down on their defensive end.
But Peter Macartney’s outstanding defense allowed him to get
a steal and kill the penalty clock to get the game back at even numbers.
“That was a big stop for us," Desko said. "They tried to skip pass through
our four man zone and Macartney picked it off and that gave us a pretty big
possession."
Tied at seven at the start of the fourth quarter, senior
Nicky Galasso took matters into his own hands scoring off a Staats pass to put
the Orange up by one with 8:47 left to play.
Colgate tried to even the score with five minutes remaining
but Wardwell stoned a Chase Wittich shot to preserve the Syracuse lead and
clear the ball into the Orange offensive end.
On the next play, Galasso found the back of the cage for the
third time to put the Orange up 9-7 with under four minutes to play. That
proved to be the final dagger in the Raiders' run at an upset as they couldn’t answer
in the final minutes.
“It’s a team game and I think everyone is playing well and
if it weren’t for the guys on the attack and the midfield line I wouldn’t be
getting these opportunities,” Galasso said. “You have to give everyone the credit even the guys on the
sidelines that aren’t playing you have to give them credit too because they are
the ones getting us ready for the games.
Playmakers
Ben Williams was superb at the X for the Orange Saturday
afternoon picking up 18-of-20 face-offs.
Rice finished with two goals and three assists and Galasso and Donahue tallied three goals apiece for the Orange.
Matt Clarkson of Colgate recorded four points on two goals
and two assists, all of them early in the game, and ‘Gate keeper Brandon Burke was phenomenal in goal, turning away 14
Syracuse shots.
Wardwell finished with eight saves in the Orange victory.
Up Next
Syracuse is headed to the 2015 NCAA tournament, seeding will
be announced Sunday night.
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