MLAX : Syracuse defense makes crucial stops late; Orange forced to fight for win against SJU
NEW YORK — St. John’s had one final chance to tie the game, holding the ball in the final minute. Syracuse’s defense buckled down and made the crucial stop to preserve the lead.
Syracuse goaltender Dominic Lamolinara made one crucial save and on the game’s final possession, the St. John’s attack unit struggled to find space in front of the cage and the clock hit zero.
‘I thought (the defense) did very well,’ head coach John Desko said. ‘although St. John’s generated a couple of good shots in there where either a goalie positioning or a check at the last second directed the ball away from the goal.’
The Red Storm took advantage of its man-up situations throughout the game, converting three of its five opportunities. But down the stretch, the close defense of Brian Megill, David Hamlin and Matt Harris prevented St. John’s from getting any good looks around the goal in the Orange’s 9-8 victory on Saturday.
Syracuse was 21-of-22 on clears on the afternoon, including a ground ball pick up by Megill late in the first quarter that he took all the way into the attacking zone before finding midfielder Kevin Drew on the right side for a goal.
Megill pumped his fist as he earned his first career point to give SU its first lead of the game.
But down the stretch is where the defense made its mark. They knocked the ball free twice on the Red Storm’s final possession. And the remarkable effort with the game on the line, coupled with a vital save by Lamolinara, iced the game for SU.
‘He’s a goalie that doesn’t panic and some goalies in a tight game they’ll tend to guess and move like that,’ Desko said of Lamolinara, ‘and he didn’t and made some good saves.’
No overlooking of St. John’s
It wasn’t supposed to be quite this hard. St. John’s is good, but it wasn’t expected to play right to the level of the No. 6 Orange.
Syracuse’s game against the Red Storm did fall in between two powerhouse opponents. Last weekend, the Orange fell to No. 1 Virginia 14-10 down in Charlottesville, Va. Next week, SU takes on No. 2 Johns Hopkins on the road in Baltimore.
So, this game against the Red Storm had ‘trap game’ written all over it.
After SU’s 9-8 win on Saturday, Desko said his players’ minds might not have been completely on this game.
‘We have the Blue Jays (next) week, so I think we were thinking about the last game, thinking ahead a little bit,’ Desko said. ‘And my hat’s off to St. John’s, I thought they played very well.’
The Orange maintained earlier in the week that it wouldn’t overlook St. John’s. Syracuse beat SJU last season in a 20-6 rout, and the Orange believed the Johnnies would have a chip on their shoulder because of that loss.
Syracuse’s minds never appeared to be where they should. SJU goalie Jeff Lowman made high saves all game, so to combat that, Desko pleaded with his players to shoot low.
Scoring for Syracuse was a challenge. And because of that, St. John’s played right with Syracuse for the entire game.
The SU players said they didn’t overlook SJU. Their performance on the field — despite the win — showed otherwise.
‘The only disappointing thing was how we performed mentally,’ Desko said.
SU earns 1st Big East win
St. John’s took Syracuse to the brink of defeat in each team’s first Big East contest of the season.
But the Orange emerged with a crucial conference victory. This season especially, conference games have extra meaning with the inaugural Big East tournament in May. Four of the Big East’s seven lacrosse teams will earn a bid to the tournament, which will take place in Villanova, Pa.
The Big East currently has three teams ranked in the Top 20, and St. John’s isn’t one of them. It would be a shocker if Syracuse isn’t among the top four teams, but a win over the Red Storm was important to start the conference slate strong.
‘Of course in the conference our first win, just glad to get our first win out here against these guys,’ SU attack Tim Desko said. ‘The game, the way went, it’s good for our young guys to learn from it too to be in a close game like that early in the season.’
