On Saturday, against Albany, Syracuse rarely had the ball. When it did, not much came of it.

Syracuse rarely won at the faceoff X, often lucky not to let up a fast break opportunity. If SU had numbers pushing in transition, the passes almost always failed to connect. Sometimes the ball tipped off a running player’s stick, other times it sailed several feet above a leaping offender. Once Syracuse finally fired at the Albany cage, the shots weren’t the best scoring chances, Syracuse head coach John Desko said.

For the first time in 27 years, Syracuse lacrosse scored three goals.

“Some of our shots were turnovers,” Desko said. “We threw it right in the stick a few times, we really needed a goal to get things going and we just gave it right back to them.”

A week removed from a 21-point outburst against Binghamton, No. 7 Syracuse (1-1) struggled to find any offensive rhythm, or even possession, in its 15-3 loss against No. 4 Albany (1-0) on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. The Great Danes outshot Syracuse 50-23 while winning 17 faceoffs to Syracuse’s five.

Several times the referees placed a shot clock — which comes following an extended offensive possession where the offense isn’t attacking — on Albany. Syracuse had no such issue. It didn’t have the ball long enough for that. When the Orange did have possession, its offense faltered anyway.

“Defensively I thought we did a great job of not giving them great opportunities,” Albany head coach Scott Marr said. “And then the fact that TD (Ierlan) won so many faceoffs for us, and we had the ball so much, it kind of gave offense a chance to get into a rhythm.”

Just more three minutes into the game, sophomore midfielder Jamie Trimboli scored a man-up goal to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, defender Nick Mellen deflected a pass from Albany’s Connor Fields all the way to the opposite restraining box. Syracuse won the ground ball and quickly worked the ball around, eventually resulting in a goal.

The Syracuse players hooted and hollered, grouping up and exchanging high-fives around the 25-yard line. But the celebration was premature. A flag had been thrown before the shot because defender Tyson Bomberry crossed midfield without a teammate staying onside for him. The goal didn’t count and SU would have to wait for more than 30 minutes of gameplay to celebrate its next goal.

“They kind of dodge from up high and they just like to get defenses spread out,” Albany goalkeeper JD Colarusso said. “But we stayed tight, we got in the feeders’ hands and we were just all over them. Our defense played incredible today.”

On Thursday, Desko pointed out how diligently his team handled the ball against Binghamton in its first game of the season, noting teams don’t usually commit fewer than 10 turnovers in a game — a feat SU accomplished in its season opener. Against Albany, Syracuse gave the ball away 14 times.

In the two-quarter long lull of offense, Syracuse was sloppy. Early in the second quarter, Matt Lane was open in his sweet spot, along the hash marks roughly 15 yards from the cage. The 6-foot-7 senior midfielder took the feed and unleashed a rocket wide right over the Albany cage. Still, SU had the ball.

Moments later Nate Solomon found Stephen Rehfuss open in front of the crease. The ball never sank into the mesh of Rehfuss’ stick, though. Instead, it bounced off his chest and was scooped up by Albany for another Great Danes possession.

“The offense was hurried,” Desko said. “We were behind, we felt like we had to catch up and you can’t do that against a seasoned defense like this.”

Throughout the first half, Syracuse’s offense failed to complement its defense. While goalkeeper Dom Madonna stopped nine Albany shots and the defense allowed just two combined points from All-American Connor Fields and the nation’s top recruit entering this season, Tehoka Nanticoke, the SU offense turned the ball over.

After a penalty kill from the Orange midway through the second quarter, Rehfuss had the ball on the far hash-mark opposite the team’s benches. The sophomore attack sent a pass through several Albany sticks in the direction of both Brendan Bomberry and Brendan Curry. Neither caught the ball. Again, Albany retained possession.

Later in the quarter, senior faceoff specialist Seth DeLisle gave SU a much needed possession off a faceoff win. Eventually the ball worked around to Curry who found midfielder Tucker Dordevic along the hash marks. The freshman spun around, and sprinted down the alley. As Dordevic cocked back for a shot, his momentum wasn’t carrying toward the net, instead it faded away from his target. Consequently, his shot was weak, falling directly into the stick of Colarusso for one of his 10 saves.

“We didn’t make the goalie move,” Desko said. “A couple times he just stood there, he didn’t have to move.”

Midway through the third quarter, Syracuse ran a textbook fast-break offense. Tyson Bomberry received a pass at midfield and moved the ball along to Brendan Bomberry. The attack passed once more to Nate Solomon for a goal.

But it was too late. It had been nearly two quarters since SU celebrated what it thought was its second goal prior to the offside call.

Though the goal drew Syracuse within 5 of Albany, the lead only got bigger from there, and efficient offense from the Orange remained a rarity.

Published on February 17, 2018 at 6:29 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44