A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Ky Tarbell #42 and #21 Seth Oakes during warm up. All photos by Joe Francis.
Seth Oakes knocks the ball loose from #32 Tom Grimm.
UAlbany #29 Zack Ornstien lays out #37 Ben Williams of SU with Coach Desko wanting a call for the hit.
Seth Oakes waiting for another chance to get the game going for UA.
#18 Dalton Roundpoint getting ready to take on #44 Matt Lane of SU.
Myles and Lyle Thompson were on hand to cheer their former teammates.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Bennett Drake and Justin Reh each netted two goals as the #12/12 UAlbany men's lacrosse team fell in its first game of the 2016 season at Syracuse 16-7.
"It is hard to win when you don't have the ball, and hard to play defense that much," said UAlbany head coach Scott Marr. "Give [Syracuse] credit for winning a lot of faceoffs and playing well today."
UAlbany (0-1) trailed by just three at the half to Syracuse (2-0) after scoring on four of its first five shots. Syracuse won 20-of 27 faceoffs and led most of the game despite 17 saves from UAlbany goalkeeper Blaze Riorden.
Drake and Reh each had two goals, with Seth Oakes, John Maloney and Eli Lasda all adding goals. Connor Fields finished with two assists and three ground balls despite having his 19-game goal scoring streak snapped. Riorden finished with three ground balls in the loss.
For Syracuse, Nick Mariano and Derek DeJoe each had three goals while Dylan Donohue had a goal and four assists. Warren Hill picked up the win in goal, saving five shots.
Syracuse won the opening faceoff and took three quick shots at the goal, with Jordan Evans connecting on the final one on a low shot around a defender. The home team added another on a shot from Mariano over Riorden's shoulder for a quick 2-0 lead.
After a couple of missed UAlbany shots, UAlbany cleared. Oakes drew a double team and lightly passed to an open Drake, who rocketed a shot into the net for UAlbany first goal 5:32 in.
Syracuse kept winning the faceoffs and peppering the goal, with DeJoe hitting a bounce shot and Matt Lane netting a rocket shot from 20 meters out a minute later. In the final two minutes of the first, Mariano scored inside the right post for a 5-1 Syracuse lead.
Before the end of the half, Drake received a pass from Fields, dodged a defender and scored on the low shot to make it 5-2 Syracuse after one.
After Riorden saved a high shot from Evans to begin the second, Kyle McClancy got behind the cage, passed quickly to a cutting Reh for the catch and shoot goal. Syracuse countered on a long possession, where UAlbany defended on a one minute man-down, but the Orange kept the ball and scores on a long Sergio Salcido attack.
UAlbany connected on another catch and shoot as Fields connected on a pass to a charging Reh to pull UAlbany within two at 6-4 with 8:34 left in the 2nd.
UAlbany picked up a long possession after a Syracuse penalty, but could not convert. The other way, Lane scored from Mariano off a pass from behind the cage for a three-goal lead for the Orange. Riorden held with a couple more saves in the final minutes as UAlbany trailed Syracuse 7-4 after the first half.
Into the third quarter, Riorden twice saved Syracuse shots, then Evans took the ball away from the UAlbany defender behind the cage. A couple of passes towards Devin Shewell for the shot and score gave SU an 8-4 lead.
After some turnovers by each side, Lasda got the ball, picked up a burst of speed, dodged his defender, jumped and scored shooting high to low. Syracuse scored in the next possession off a close shot by DeJoe next to the crease, adding another the next round off a 15-meter line drive shot from Shewell inside the left post to make it 10-5 Syracuse with 6:47 left in the 3rd.
UAlbany picked up a man-up chance off a Syracuse penalty, where Fields passed inside to Maloney for the jump shot and score. The home team added a pair more from Donahue and Mariano to make it a 12-6 Syracuse lead after three quarters.
The Great Danes got off the first two shots of the fourth, with each missing high. A turnover sent Syracuse to offense, with Evans ending a long possession with a goal after Donahue drew a double and passed to the scorer. DeJoe added another off another deep possession to make it 14-6 Syracuse.
UAlbany added one back in the following minutes as Oakes picked up a ground ball off a blocked shot, fired a shot behind his back and scored to make it 14-7. That was a close as UAlbany got as Syracuse added a couple of late goals for the eventual 16-7 final score.
UAlbany will have its first home game next weekend, hosting Drexel at John Fallon Field on Saturday, February 27th at noon.
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