Orange Lacrosse Kicks off Season With Big Win Over Siena

By Nick Richardson

SYRACUSE,  N.Y. – The No.7-ranked Syracuse men’s lacrosse team began its centennial season with a resounding 18-5 win over the visiting Siena Saints on Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.

Ten different Orange players scored a goal in the season debut, a game in which the Saints never posed a serious threat. The Orange led 10-0 before Brian Prunty put Siena on the board with :52 left in the first half.

As with any season-opening game, Orange head coach John Desko – now in his 18^th season at the helm – sees plenty of room for improvement.

“It was a good day for us,” Desko said. “We obviously have a lot of things to work on. We’ll see a lot of things on the film, but just to get off to a ‘W’ and get these guys in a game situation was very good for us today.”

The Orange outshot the Saints 41-18 and won 20 of the game’s 27 faceoffs.

Donahue Dominates on Offense

Syracuse’s offense was paced by team captain and All-American Dylan Donahue, who matched a career-high with nine points on four goals and five assists despite not playing the entire game.

With the Orange losing several of  top its scorers from last season, Donahue figures to be the focal point of the attack this year. He didn’t disappoint in the season opener.

“We’re very comfortable with Dylan,” Desko said. “The best thing that he’s doing is with all those other guys gone, he’s leading this offense and directing things on the field. A lot of people don’t see that, so for him to be our quarterback out there helps things go more smoothly.”

Newcomers Making An Impact

Orange fans can plan on seeing a lot of new faces in 2016, several of whom made contributions against Siena.

Freshmen Brad Voigt, Nate Solomon, Gale Thorpe and Devin Shewell combined for six points, as Desko saw an opportunity to give his younger players some needed experience.

“We recruited all those guys and we have high hopes for them,” Desko said.

But it wasn’t just the freshmen that pitched in. Transfers Nick Mariano (UMass) and Nick Piroli (Brown) combined for five points. With so much production lost from 2015, the Orange will need everybody to step up and contribute.

“With the way we play offense, you never know who’s going to be putting the ball in the back of the net,” Donahue said.

Game Notes

As part of the Orange’s 100^th season, the team honored the ‘Laurie Cox Era’. Cox became the first head coach of Syracuse lacrosse in 1916 and his teams would go on to claim four USILA National Championships.

Junior Ben Williams continued his dominance in the faceoff circle, winning 12 of his 16 draws. He led the ACC and finished second in the country in 2015 in faceoff percentage (67.6).

Up Next

The Orange will host the Albany Great Danes at the Carrier Dome on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 4:00 p.m. The game will be available on TWCS and ESPN3.