MLAX : Drew’s insurance goal helps SU master late-game struggles
Kevin Drew’s game-sealing goal against Princeton illustrated a remedy. His ability to successfully play keep-away in the game’s final 90 seconds was a breath of fresh air for Syracuse.
‘If you watched us against Georgetown or Villanova,’ SU head coach John Desko said, ‘there were situations where we were trying to take the air out of the ball with not a lot of time left. We lost it, and we needed to get someone back on defense to stop the fastbreak.’
Desko called timeout with 1:28 remaining and his team up by a goal against the Tigers. Instead of putting the ball in the stick of Jovan Miller or JoJo Marasco — like he had against Georgetown and Villanova, respectively — he handed it to Drew.
The junior midfielder began the possession along the left sideline. As soon as the referee’s whistle blew to start the clock, he peeled back around in a circle toward the right side of the goal.
Drew took advantage of an open goal when Tigers’ goaltender Tyler Fiorito stepped out to double-team and scored easily to seal the win.
The ability of Drew to protect the ball and add insurance for the Orange is something the team struggled with early on this season. Against both Georgetown and Villanova, turnovers by Miller and Marasco led to transition goals the other way to tie the game.
Desko said that in one of those games, Drew had been too tired to be on the field late, even though the coaching staff had planned for him to be the ball carrier.
Saturday, he was all over the field throughout the game and still had the energy to make a play late. His ability to be an effective two-way player was evident on multiple occasions when he singlehandedly cleared the ball from the defensive zone with lengthy runs into the attacking half of the field. In addition to his goal, he scooped three groundballs.
It was an overall performance worthy of praise from his goaltender John Galloway.
‘I have to mention Kevin Drew because he’s the MVP of that game,’ Galloway said. ‘He makes plays behind the net, he makes plays on offense, he makes plays clearing the ball. Without him, we don’t know.’
For change, SU controls faceoff X
Controlling tempo is how teams have game-planned to beat Syracuse lately. Princeton tried to do exactly that Saturday, but its faceoff struggles shot the Tigers in the foot.
Syracuse managed to control the faceoff X, winning 8-of-13 opportunities to keep the ball out of Princeton’s end of the field. When the Tigers held the ball, they worked to keep possession and control the tempo of the game.
SU had to get back to dominating at the X after its game against Duke last weekend, where Syracuse won only 7-of-27 faceoffs. After watching film of the game, Desko said it wasn’t as much about losing faceoffs as it was about getting to groundballs.
Desko said that too often Syracuse wasn’t boxing out the other team’s players, which creates room to scoop up the groundball.
‘We’re working with our faceoff guys to do better in groundball situations,’ Desko said. ‘When they’re being chased by a pole, to protect it and give them outlets quicker. It’s just practice.’
That practice paid off, especially in the first quarter, when Syracuse scored three goals. The Orange won 3-of-5 opportunities at the X, which allowed it to hold possession for most of the period. Syracuse won the opening faceoff when Jeremy Thompson knocked the ball behind and Jovan Miller scooped it up to give SU possession. Miller eventually dished it off to Josh Amidon, who scored just 29 seconds into the game to give the Orange an early lead.
SU won 2-of-2 faceoffs in the fourth quarter and scored two goals to pull away from Princeton to get the win. Desko emphasized he was never too concerned about Syracuse’s struggles in faceoffs, but that it was something that needs to be improved.
‘We’ve never lost our cool with it or panicked about it,’ Desko said. ‘We feel that we have good people there. It’s just a matter of some practice and working on it and making things better.’
