UPDATED: March 4, 2018 at 10:55 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Tucker Dordevic eyed his defender. He dodged down the right alley before spinning into open space. Already with a hat trick in Sunday’s game, Dordevic wasn’t hesitant. He pulled the trigger and delivered the game-winner with 12.4 remaining.

Last year, it was Sergio Salcido, a redshirt senior who scored the game-winner with under 15 seconds left. This year, it was the freshman Dordevic whose goal gave No. 12 Syracuse (3-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) the 12-11 win over No. 4 Virginia (4-1, 0-1) on Sunday at Klockner Stadium. For the fourth-straight year Syracuse downed UVA, and the Cavaliers have not won a regular-season ACC contest since March of 2014.

Syracuse’s defense dominates

In each game this season, SU’s defense has kept the team within striking distance, never allowing more than six goals in a single half. It propelled Syracuse in a comeback win over Army and limited Albany until a third-quarter run pulled the Great Danes away. On Sunday, the defense was a stalwart yet again. Virginia scored four times in the opening quarter, but the No. 4 scoring offense in the country struggled to get anything going after that. In the first half, SU caused seven turnovers with defender Nick Mellen stripping attack Ian Laviano multiple times. In the third quarter, UVA was held scoreless. Errant passes landed out of bounds or in Syracuse’s sticks. Shots point blank were stopped by goalie Dom Madonna. Though the Cavaliers began to claw its way back in the fourth quarter, the damage had been done and Syracuse walked away with another Top-10 win, and its fourth-straight over Virginia.

Varello bounces back

Against ranked competition, sophomore faceoff specialist Danny Varello has struggled mightily. Over the last two weeks, he had won just eight of 27 faceoffs, giving the opposition plenty of time to settle in and break down Syracuse’s defense. But against Justin Schwenk, the nation’s seventh-best faceoff specialist (66.7 percent), Varello bounced back, finishing 15-for-25. Multiple times his wins led to SU goals in transition and his success helped Syracuse’s offense settle in and finally operate — something it had not done since its season opener against Binghamton.

Brett Kennedy shines

Last week, Brett Kennedy earned the start on defense in favor of the injured Tyson Bomberry. He put up a strong performance, which led to SU head coach John Desko starting him again this week. He was tasked with guarding Virginia’s lead attack Michael Kraus, limiting him to two goals. But it was what he did on the offensive end that came as a surprise. When Syracuse pushed transition, Kennedy sprinted upfield and into the attacking third. Four times he found the ball and sprinted at goalie Alex Rode. One was wide and one hit off the post. But the other two found the back of the net. In a close contest like Sunday, Kennedy’s offensive help pushed Syracuse over the edge in its win.

Published on March 4, 2018 at 5:25 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco