Orange Beats Binghamton 13-5 Before Heading to ACC Semifinal

By Lindsey Horsting

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange continued its winning record against the Binghamton Bearcats Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome with an easy 13-5 win.  Syracuse holds a 5-0 record over the New York foe.  

Junior attack Nick Mariano led the charge with 4 goals.  Mariano credited his team with putting him in good position to score and succeed.

“They’re getting good dodges, they’re drawing slides for me and I’m just trying to get my shot from outside and off-ball,” he said.

This was the fourth game the Orange played in 14 days .  The team came out strong against the Bearcats in the first half but Binghamton showed some fight in the second half as the Orange’s schedule looked like it might be wearing on the team and Syracuse head coach John Desko gave some of his bench players some time on the field.

“We wanted to come out focused and try to jump on them early in the game and I think as the game went on we showed there was a touch of fatigue there, a couple mental errors, some turnovers,” Desko said.  “It was a good win for us.”

First Half

The Orange held a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.  Mariano had two goals, and senior midfielder Tim Barber and junior midfield Jordan Evans had one goal apiece.

In the beginning of the second quarter the Bearcats held the Orange scoreless until 4:17 before halftime. Then Syracuse unleashed five goals before the break.  Red shirt senior attack Dylan Donahue had back-to-back goals, and junior midfield and faceoff man Ben Williams, red shirt junior Sergio Salcido, and red shirt sophomore Matt Lane each scored one goal.

Despite have let nine goals in, Binghamton junior goalie Tanner Cosens had nine saves at the break.  At half time Syracuse had outshot Binghamton 24-11.  During the Syracuse scoring drought early in the second quarter the Bearcats had multiple opportunities to score and close the gap but were unable to capitalize Binghamton head coach Scott Nelson said.

“We have some pretty good dodgers in the midfield and they didn’t do a very good job tonight,” he said.

The Orange defense played a factor in the Bearcats' first half struggles.

“I think there’s been a real focus for the last few weeks that our team defense and our sliding and recovering and I thought it did really well,” Desko said.

Second Half

Salcido opened the scoring in the second half for the Orange.  Binghamton junior midfield Matthew Kaser scored the first goal for the Bearcats with 8:15 left in the third quarter leaving the Orange up 10-1.

Syracuse switched senior Warren Hill for red shirt junior Evan Molloy with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter and Hill would play the remainder of the game.

Orange graduate student attack Nick Piroli scored the last goal of the night for Syracuse with 9:00 remaining.  Binghamton scored three goals in the last nine minutes.

Key Performances

Mariano finished the game with five points: four goals and one assist.  Barber and Donahue finished with three points each; Barber had one goal and two assists and Donahue had two goals and one assist.

Binghamton red shirt sophomore Sean Gilroy had a team-high three points with two goals and one assist.  Cosens finished the game with 14 saves.

“I thought our goalie played well,” Nelson said.  “I thought he saw too many shots, too many good shots you know, but I thought he had a good night.”

Syracuse won the faceoffs 15-5.

Remembering Pearl

Dwayne "Pearl" Washington was remembered before the lacrosse game.  The Syracuse basketball legend  died Wednesday after a struggle with cancer and at the post-game press conference.

 Desko reminisced about Washington’s half court shot to beat Boston College

“It was great to see that highlight up there and we’ll probably never forget number 31,” he said.

Up Next

The Orange will face North Carolina in the ACC Semifinal Friday April 29 in Kennesaw, Georgia.  The time of the game is yet to be determined.