MLAX : Huge effort from goaltender not enough for Saints; Palasek shines for SU
Siena head coach Brian Brecht said he figured his Saints would need about 20 saves from goaltender Tom Morr to have a chance against No. 1 Syracuse.
And although Siena couldn’t pull out the win, Morr did just what his coach wanted.
The redshirt junior shined in the Saints’ 10-4 loss to SU. He kept Siena within striking distance for most of the game Sunday, making 19 saves — a season-high for an Orange opponent — on 51 SU shots. Morr turned away seven shots in the first quarter and carried that strong play throughout the game.
Morr said his performance benefited from the Saints’ defense, which forced SU to take plenty of tough shots.
‘I have to give credit to my defense,’ Morr said. ‘We do give up a lot of shots, but the quality of the shots aren’t that great. They do a great job of packing in, just let me see the ball and not giving up the easy ones inside.’
Morr settled in after stopping the first shot of the game by SU longstick midfielder Joel White.
On Syracuse’s first possession, White caught a pass charging full speed into the offensive zone. He wound up from about 10 yards out and fired a shot straight into Morr’s stick.
‘Every game I actually go out there and I hope that I get the first one, the first save before they score the first goal,’ Morr said. ‘I also really didn’t see it — I was screened — but he kind of put it right in my stick. That kind of got me going and I knew I had one under my belt.’
The Orange did beat Morr twice in the first quarter. But with 18 shots in that period by SU, it could have been much worse.
Near the end of the first quarter, a failed Siena clear attempt gave Tom Palasek a wide-open chance in front of the net. He held off three trailing defenders before leaping to try and finish over Morr. The goalie couldn’t get his stick up in time, but managed to get his head in the way as the shot clunked off his helmet and out of bounds.
‘I could sense a little bit (of frustration),’ Morr said. ‘They were taking some shots with bad angles. We knew going in that they shoot a lot and they’re going to get their shots early in possessions. And I felt them forcing a little bit.’
While Siena’s offense sputtered throughout the game, Morr kept his team close. His 12 first-half saves allowed the Saints to go into halftime down just 4-2, and four more stops in the third quarter kept Siena within 6-2.
Morr added three saves in the fourth, including a nice kick save on Jeff Gilbert, but SU scored four times in the final period to secure the win.
Transfer Palasek helps SU to first-round victory
Tom Palasek has no idea what it was like to walk off the field last year after Syracuse’s upset overtime loss to Army. The transfer from Johns Hopkins can only imagine what his teammates went through then, and knows how motivated they are for this year’s tournament.
Palasek made plays on offense to help his teammates avoid another first-round upset against Siena and advance to the quarterfinals. The junior finished with five points, coming on four assists and one goal. Palasek assisted on the Orange’s first two goals of the game to give SU an early lead.
‘I can’t really comment on how it felt for last year’s guys,’ Palasek said. ‘I’m sure it felt awful. … For me, it’s another chance to be competitive in the playoffs and move on.’
Palasek spent a lot of the game behind the cage, beating a Siena short stick to either pass to a teammate or wrap around the net for a goal. The attack participated in all of the Orange’s first four goals, easily beating the Saints defense. And in a game where SU struggled to score in the first half, Palasek’s contributions were certainly needed.
Palasek has been starting at attack in place of Tim Desko, who has been out with a knee injury that eventually turned into an infection. And Palasek has filled in nicely, scoring at least one goal in his last eight games.
‘I think they had a game plan to just give us a tough time off the end line with that short stick in the switch,’ Palasek said. ‘Once we put a guy on the front, we realized they couldn’t do that.’
