Galloway continues strong start to season with 13-save outing against Black Knights
Another game, another impressive showing for John Galloway to start the 2010 season.
Galloway continued his impressive start to his junior campaign in Sunday’s contest against Army, saving 13 shots while allowing only seven goals in SU’s 12-7 victory.
‘Yeah, I was seeing the ball (well),’ Galloway said after the game.
But still, despite the gaudy numbers, he wasn’t all too thrilled with his performance on the day, saying he thought he let in some shots that shouldn’t have beat him.
‘I think I should have made a lot more saves in the second half that I didn’t make,’ Galloway said. ‘It’s pretty frustrating. I let those guys down in the second half when the other goalie (Army’s Tom Palesky) was making so many saves.
‘So we need to step up our game, and I need to step up my game to give our guys more chances when we’re facing a hot goalie.’
Galloway made some saves on point-blank shots in the first half. He led the Orange in its transition attack, helping SU clear the ball out of the defensive zone on 23 of its 26 chances in the game.
And he steadied himself as Army attempted to make a run to steal a game from the No. 1 Orange, stopping four shots in the second half, including a point-blank attempt by Army’s Brian LoRusso as the Black Knights were in the midst of their run to tie the game.
Even if Galloway wasn’t impressed, his counterpart across the field had nothing but good things to say.
‘We had a battle today,’ Palesky said. ‘He played really well today.’
A family affair
JoJo Marasco couldn’t wait to get on the field Sunday. Not that the game against Army would be any more special or any more important than the many he’ll play in an Orange uniform.
But with a little sibling rivalry, Marasco just got a little more excited for the Orange’s contest against the Black Knights.
Marasco’s brother, Matt, is a junior close defender for the Black Knights. And in a game with plenty of ties between Army and Syracuse – the Black Knights have five players from Central New York on their roster – the Marasco brothers added a family connection to it.
‘I’ve been talking to him a lot about it since I committed to Syracuse since (Syracuse and Army) usually play each other,’ Marasco said in the week leading up to the game. ‘And we saw this game on the schedule. We’ve been waiting for this. So it’s going to be a great feeling to get out there with him.’
Playing mostly as a midfielder, Marasco rarely got a chance to go up against his older brother directly. But it was still thrilling to get back on the field with Matt, as the two played together at Somers (N.Y.) High School for two seasons before Matt graduated.
Marasco added it would be somewhat confusing to see his brother on the other side of the field, however, after so many games together at Somers High, not to mention backyard games of catch.
‘It’s going to be a little awkward to see him on the other side of the field,’ Marasco said. ‘We’re really close – it’s going to be a great time.’
Looking Ahead
No. 1 Syracuse survived a bit of a scare from an unranked Army team Sunday. But next weekend, it will face its biggest test so far this season.
The Orange travels to Charlottesville, Va., to play No. 2 Virginia on Sunday at 1 p.m. in its first road game this year.
Last year, the Cavaliers came to the Dome to take on the Orange in what was also a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. After taking a five-goal lead, Virginia held off a furious Syracuse rally to secure a 13-12 victory.
As tough as the matchup will be again this year, head coach John Desko sees some additional obstacles that could hinder the Orange on its first road trip of the season.
He said there won’t be much opportunity for SU to prepare for Virginia’s grass playing field because of all the snow.
But he added that the Orange will be ready to take on the Cavaliers come Sunday.
‘I think everybody looks forward to the Syracuse-Virginia game,’ he said. ‘As far as tempo, both teams getting up and down the field trying to create transition and take outside shots and more of a high-tempo kind of offense. That’s what we do and we try to do it in practice, so that’s the best thing we can do to prepare for them.’
