How does that old challenge go again?

Wasn’t it “I’ll beat you with one hand behind my back”?

In a sense, Mike Springer did that last night.

Springer tied season highs with four goals and five points in Syracuse’s 19-4 win over Hobart at the Carrier Dome while playing with a bruised right hand that has nagged him the last two games.

‘He’s back in stride,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘I don’t think (the hand) has hampered him too much. He’s been able to play the whole game if we needed him to.’

Thing is, Springer played just two and a half quarters of the blowout and still matched the five points he notched at Denver on March 10.

Springer’s first goal, also SU’s first, came just 42 seconds into the game.

Circling the net and displaying quizzical quickness considering his 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame, Springer dropped a pass to fellow attackman Mike Powell. Springer snuck to the opposite side of the net, and Powell found him alone for an open-net tally.

With 4:31 left in the first quarter and the Orangemen leading 3-1, Springer struck again. And this time it was historic.

Josh Coffman, the third member of SU’s vaunted attack triumvirate, stood directly behind the Hobart net and flipped a pass straight over the net to Springer, who fired his 100th career goal past netminder Mike Borsz.

Springer now sits at 17th on SU’s all-time goals list with 102, just two behind Tom Nelson. If Springer, a junior, matches his two-year goal total of 88 over this season and next, he’ll finish third all-time.

Springer fell off his typical tear-it-up pace a bit when he incurred the injury within the last two weeks. He scored just one goal in a 9-8 loss at Johns Hopkins on March 16 and was shut out for the first time this season Saturday in an 11-8 win at Princeton.

After that game, Powell revealed that Springer’s hand was hurting him more than he was letting on.

‘He kind of denies it just to show that he’s tough or whatever,’ Powell said. ‘But it does hurt to a certain extent, and he’s not the old Springer when it’s hurting him like that.’

Springer was the first to admit his struggles after last night’s game.

‘I’ve been in a little bit of a slump the last few games,’ Springer said. ‘I got a few more shots today and handled the ball well.’

The athletic tape on Springer’s hand was cut back yesterday, said Desko, who noted that the injury ‘limited (Springer) a little bit as far as the quickness of his release.’ Springer still had most of his right hand and his entire pinky wrapped in athletic tape after the game.

‘He’s one of the best attackmen out there, and he’s a pretty imposing figure,’ Hobart head coach Matt Kerwick said. ‘He’s just one of the pieces of their offense that’s awfully good.’

Wait until Springer tries his next trick. Two-handed.

Published on March 27, 2002 at 12:00 pm