By Zach Francis
Photo by Kerry Bretti
Syracuse, N.Y. - Thanks in part to a dominant performance from Ben Williams in faceoffs, Syracuse ran past Albany 16-7 Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome. The Orange (2-0) won 20 of 27 faceoffs on the afternoon with Williams winning 17.
"Ben was in good form and gave us a lot of good possessions to put pressure on their defense," Syracuse head coach John Desko said.
The Orange finished with 59 shots on goal compared to just 25 for the Great Danes.
"It's hard to win when you don't have the ball," Albany head coach Scott Marr said after the game.
Fast Start Doesn't Mean Big Lead
Williams won all eight first quarter faceoffs for the Orange, but at the end of the quarter, Syracuse only led 5-2. Nick Mariano scored his first of the afternoon en route to a hat trick to get the Orange started.
"We were just focusing all week on staying true to what we do and staying on top of the ball," Williams said.
Tim Barber also scored in the opening quarter, but was taken out shortly after with what was called an upper body injury.
"I think we missed out on some good chances," Desko said. "We could have gotten some better shots. We might have rushed it some. With 60 shots, you might think we scored more."
Despite a dominating effort on offense, the Orange couldn't put away Albany, allowing the Great Danes to hang around.
"We could have done more on defense, but I think it was a really good effort today," Desko said.
Jordan Evans, Matt Lane and Derek DeJoe also scored goals in the first quarter. In all, nine different Syracuse players scored a goal.
Orange Pulls Away Late
Leading just 7-4 at halftime, the Orange came out firing on all cylinders to open the second half. In the first eight minutes of the third quarter, Syracuse scored three goals to make it 10-5. Devin Shewell scored his third and fourth goals of the season during the stretch.
"It's really going to help us later in the season," Desko said. "With so many guys that can score we won't have to rely on that one guy to keep us going."
To go along with four assists, Dylan Donahue added a goal with 2:04 to go in the third quarter to make it 12-6 in favor of the Orange.
Syracuse added four more goals in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Up Next
The Orange will have a week off before Army comes to the Carrier Dome next Sunday.
Postgame press conferences
Syracuse postgame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iin5XYUqgZs
Albany postgame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_6A35l532Y
No comments:
Post a Comment