Faceoff struggles lead to 2-quarter scoring drought for Orange in loss to Virginia
Syracuse head coach John Desko’s explanation as to why his team went through a nearly two-quarter scoring drought was simple.
‘Not having the ball,’ he said. ‘When you don’t have the ball, you can’t score.’
Much of that lack of possession stemmed from the faceoff X, a spot the Orange had dominated until its meeting with Virginia Sunday. Through the first two quarters of the game, the Cavaliers built up a 10-5 advantage at the X.
Desko attributed part of the early faceoff struggles to a different style of officiating.
‘All officials in different areas officiate differently,’ Desko said. ‘And they were letting the guys roll through. Our guys hadn’t been used to it in the first couple of games. They were holding us back a little bit. Not to say (Virginia’s faceoff men) aren’t terrific faceoff guys. They are, but the whole timing set us off.’
Through its first two games, Syracuse had won 68 percent of its faceoffs. But it took time for junior Jeremy Thompson and senior Gavin Jenkinson to adjust to the new referees.
The pair ultimately went 13-of-25 from the X, but most of those wins did not come until late in the second half.
‘We didn’t have possession of the ball,’ junior attack Stephen Keogh said, explaining the Orange’s offensive woes. ‘They did a good job winning faceoffs, keeping control down in their offensive end. So that kept the ball away from us.’
Close game, nothing new
Even after his Cavaliers took a 10-6 early lead in the fourth quarter, head coach Dom Starsia never believed his team had an insurmountable lead – especially against Syracuse.
‘I never felt like the game was over,’ he said. ‘Sometimes you’re on the sideline in a game and you feel like, ‘OK, we’ve got this game under control.’ You never feel that way with the Orange. You know that they’re going to make a run at you.’
And sure enough, the Orange rallied back before falling 11-10, giving Virginia its seventh win in the last eight meetings between the two legendary programs.
The one-goal margin sums up just how close this series has been. The Cavaliers now hold a 14-12 advantage in the rivalry with the Orange. Even more remarkable is the goal differential through those 26 games. With this win, Virginia takes a 345-344 scoring edge over Syracuse.
So despite the Cavaliers’ dominating performance through the first three quarters, Starsia said he knew SU wasn’t done just yet.
‘We’ve been around this block long enough to know that you have to play these guys for 60 full minutes,’ he said. ‘You play them for 59:59 and you’re likely to lose as much as anything else.’
The power of the yellow flag
Virginia head coach Dom Starsia was furious.
Syracuse had just scored its fifth man-up goal and took a 5-2 lead just 16 minutes into the game. Despite Virginia dominating the possession of the ball, the Cavaliers had nothing to show for it. They committed penalty after penalty leading to easy Syracuse goals.
‘We lost our mind in the beginning of the game,’ Starsia said. ‘That is as close as I have felt to having the top of my head blow off in some time. Even the older guys were picking up penalties. It was ridiculous.’
Just six minutes into the game, Virginia senior defenseman Ryan Nizolek was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty. He was sent to the box for a minute and Syracuse capitalized. Twice.
Tim Desko checked in and fired a bullet from the right wing to tie the game at one. The penalty was un-releasable and Nizolek was stuck in the box for another 34 seconds. Gavin Jenkinson won the faceoff and Syracuse continued with its advantage.
Chris Daniello fed Desko again and he buried a low shot to the left side of the goal. Stephen Keogh, Daniello and Jeremy Thompson would all score goals on man-up situations.
‘I look up at the scoreboard and we were up 4-2 without any real possessions,’ said Syracuse head coach John Desko. ‘We had no possessions and were up just because of the man-up situations.’
Syracuse did not convert an even goal until Jovan Miller scored with eight seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Starsia made it clear to his guys at halftime that they could not afford to give Syracuse so many advantages.
‘One thing you don’t want to do against Syracuse is play them man-down and let them have that extra guy out there,’ Starsia said. ‘Luckily we settled down after that first half.’
