Army Downs Orange in Last Second Thriller

Story by Ashley Moore

Photo Dontae Harris

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the second straight game, the #6 Syracuse Orange men found themselves trailing in the second half in a game to be decided within the final seconds Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.

Unlike the last game, when the Orange pulled out a win over Albany, Syracuse found itself on the losing end of a last second game-winning goal by Army West Point’s David Symmes.

"I had a matchup I liked and I split right-to-left," Symmes said. "I just took the shot."

Faceoff woes

Less than an hour before game time, the Syracuse Orange announced that its star faceoff specialist, Ben Williams, would not suit up to play against the Army-West Point Black Knights due to an undisclosed injury.

"Ben Williams is one of the best in the game and has really gotten after us these last couple of years," Army head coach Joe Alberici said. "We had no prior knowledge of it, but we had to turn that into a strength in the first half and we certainly did.”

Fifth-year senior Cal Paduda started the game for Williams and struggled, winning just three of 13 draws and grabbing two groundballs.

Army-West Point controlled the tempo of the first half by maintaining possession of the ball. Dan Grabher won 11 of 16 faceoffs and the Black Knights scooped up five more groundballs than the Orange.

"They had some nice two-three minute possessions and sometimes the ball bounced their way so they were able to come up with some extra ground balls," Syracuse coach John Desko said.

Change at the X

With 12 minutes to go in the first half, Army went on a 4-0 run, lasting nearly ten minutes, sparked by back-to-back goals from senior midfielder, Matthew Donovan.

With under four minutes to go in the half, Syracuse head coach John Desko replaced Paduda with freshman Danny Varello.

After an Army goal, Varello won his first faceoff of the game to give Syracuse a chance to snap the Army streak.

Later in the possession, Stephen Rehfuss tiptoed the crease as he wrapped around the goal to go head-on with Army goalie, Aj Barretto. A Rehfuss spin move put Syracuse back on the scoreboard.

The Orange managed to score one more goal before the half, going into halftime down two.

Second Half Adjustments

The second half started tighter than the first with Syracuse and Army exchanging goals, both scoring three in the third.

Varello and Grabher split eight faceoffs, but Army still managed to come up with more loose balls.

With just under eleven minutes to go in the game, Syracuse was charged with two penalties, one on Pat Carlin and the other on Carlo Ciferi, forcing the Orange to play down two men. The Orange managed to hold the Black Knights scoreless until both players returned to the field, resulting in monstrous applause by Syracuse fans.

Momentum swung in Syracuse’ favor after score two goals, tying up the game at 12.

Both teams managed to score within the next few minutes, turning the game into a nail biter with just two minutes left in regulation.

The Orange had the ball with a chance to go ahead but after a Sergio Salcido turnover, Army regained possession

Alberici called a timeout to draw up the final, potentially game winning play.

 Starting with 38 seconds left in the game, Matt Donovan moved the ball through the X from left to right, passed it to Nate Jones, who passed it to Ted Glesener in the top right corner. Glesener moved it to Symmes, who took an unexpected game-winning shot from his left hip and scored with 0.5 seconds left in the game.

“They were answering us but I kind of looked at it like we were answering them,” Alberici said.

"One thing we knew about [Army] coming in is that they were going to be well coached and play for 60 minutes, which they did," Desko said.

Looking Ahead

Syracuse (2-1) closes out their four-game home stretch against #7 Virginia to begin ACC play next Sunday at noon in the Carrier Dome.

Army West Point (3-1) will host Lafayette Saturday to start Patriot League play.