Orange Quiets Red Storm

By Nick Richardson

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After a huge win last week at Virginia, there was no letdown performance for the Syracuse Orange lacrosse men Saturday as the No. 3-ranked team in the country pummeled the St. John’s Red Storm 15- 4 at the Carrier Dome.

The Orange improved to 5-0 on the season thanks to a game in which it never allowed the Red Storm to build any sort of momentum. The loss dropped St. John’s to 1-6 in 2016.

First-Half Domination

The Orange asserted its dominance from the first whistle, scoring the game’s first six goals before St. John’s found the back of the net.

Syracuse let loose shot after shot, outshooting the Red Storm by 54-15, including 19-3 in the first quarter alone. Senior Dylan Donahue helped establish this fire superiority.

“I was able to get a couple shots off, get some key dodges,” Donahue said. “You never know what’s going to happen on offense.”

Donahue extended his goal-scoring streak to 30 games, tied for the longest such streak in the country.

Not Letting Up

Not content with the 9-2 lead they built in the first half, the Orange men kept their foot on the gas throughout the second half. The Orange came out of the break with a vengeance, at one point building a 13-2 advantage.

“We’re not out there just to try and score extra goals,” head coach John Desko said. “We’re out there trying to run the offense, play good individual, good team defense, [have] communication both offensively and defensively and just work on the things that are going to make us better as a team instead of trying to get some things individually. The individual stuff will take care of itself if we play well as a group.”

All Hands On Deck

The Orange got contributions up and down the roster, as ten different players scored a goal.

“We like to share the ball and get everybody involved,” Desko said. “I think it makes us more dangerous and harder to cover as opposed to just covering one or two players on our team.”

Junior Nick Mariano led the Orange with three goals in the game, all of them coming in the first half.

“I just had the opportunity to dodge and when I dodged I finished the ball,” Mariano said. “Our offense was setting up good looks for me, and it was all them.”

Redshirt freshmen Pat Carlin and Brad McKinney each scored their first career goals. McKinney’s was particularly special, as he let loose a laser from a tough angle.

Donahue, Mariano and Jordan Evans all finished with four points.

Jason DeBenedictis, Eric DeJohn, Tom Stackpole and Nick Heller tallied the Red Storm’s goals.

Up Next

The Orange heads back on the road next week to take on the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays on Sat. March 19^th at 4 p.m. The game will be available on ESPNU.