#4 Syracuse Holds Off #18 UAlbany, 15-13, in Men's Lacrosse Action at Carrier Dome

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Syracuse, N.Y. – Stephen Keogh and Dan Hardy each had three goals and two assists as nationally-ranked Syracuse held off UAlbany, 15-13, before 4,189 fans on Friday, April 17 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange, who are tied for fourth in the current USILA coaches’ poll, have won eight of their last nine outings.

UAlbany (6-5) turned a halftime laugher into a tight affair with an eight-goal third quarter. The Great Danes, who have lost all seven meetings in this series, including a pair of one-goal decisions, trailed by eight at the intermission and were still behind 11-5 midway through the period. However, Corey Small tallied three times in his team’s five-goal run to end the quarter.

Small, a senior attacker who had recently missed four games following leg surgery, connected on back-to-back shots. He scored an extra-man goal off Brian Caufield’s no-look pass to the right of the crease and then finished off a play that started with a Syracuse turnover. Joe Resetarits added consecutive goals, the second when he got ahead of the Orange defense following a scramble for a loose ball. Small closed the gap to 11-10 with 10 seconds left in the period when he fired a sidearm shot around a defender into the top right corner.

Syracuse (10-2) turned a bizarre play to start the final stanza into a decision four-goal outburst. After winning the faceoff, UAlbany defenseman Brendan Gleason attempted to pass backwards to his goalkeeper to start a clearing play. However, SU freshman Kevin Drew stick-checked Gleason’s long pole and the ball dislodged and went into an empty net. From there, the Orange scored twice in a 23-second span. Hardy fired a shot over goaltender John Carroll’s head for his 18th of the season and Josh Amidon cut to the top of the crease to score off Keogh’s pass from behind.

The Orange looked to be in control again with a 15-10 lead, but still had to fight off the visitors all the way to the horn. Dave Brock and Small found the net 23 seconds apart. Small’s fourth goal of the game, the 100th of his career, came on a tough-angle shot from the right side with a man-advantage. Freshman Rocky Bonitatibus stepped into a 14-yard blast in another extra-man situation with 2:50 remaining for his team’s third unanswered goal. But the Orange were able to possess the ball and run out the clock by taking advantage of a pair of penalties.

“I was pleased with our effort for sixty minutes, but we didn’t execute in the first thirty minutes,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, whose teams travels to America East Conference opponent Vermont on Sunday. “The second half was as good as we have played lacrosse all year. They goal at the start of the fourth quarter changed the momentum. It took the wind out of our sails and it took a couple of minutes to rebound.”

Syracuse, also ranked third in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll, rolled to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. Tim Desko converted a nifty left-to-right crossing pass from Kenny Nims in a man-advantage situation. Keogh then scored from the top of the crease after Pat Perritt found him while driving from the left. Scott Kahoe, a 6-foot-5 midfielder, drilled a 15-yard shot from the left into the far low corner. Perritt dodged a UAlbany midifielder and sent a shot inside the right post 49 seconds later.

UAlbany’s Resetarits connected on a 10-yard blast into the top left corner after midfielder John Alpizar worked around the cage that closed their team within 6-2 with 13:21 left in the second quarter. But the Orange seemed to take a firm hold on the lead by scoring four times in a four-minute-and-36-second span.

UAlbany turned the ball over in its offensive end which led to Desko’s fastbreak goal. The Great Danes were whistled for unnecessary roughness on the same play and Hardy canned an extra-man shot 22 seconds later. Keogh added his second and third goals of the half, the first off a failed clear and the second on a rebound in front of the cage.


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#20 UAlbany (6-5) 1 1 8 3 - 13

#4 Syracuse (10-2) 5 5 1 4 - 15

UAlbany – Scoring: Corey Small 4-0, Joe Resetarits 4-0, Brian Caufield 1-5, Rocky Bonitatibus 1-1, Dave Brock 1-0, Matthew Cushing 1-0, Luke Cometti 1-0, John Alpizar 0-2, Derek Kreuzer 0-1, Joe Pompo 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Drew DiCiociio (30:00, 7 saves, 10 GA), John Carroll (30:00, 5 saves, 5 GA).

Syracuse – Scoring: Dan Hardy 3-2, Stephen Keogh 3-2, Matt Abbott 2-0, Tim Desko 2-0, Patrick Perritt 1-1, Scott Kahoe 1-0, Josh Amidon 1-0, Chris Daniello 1-0, Team 1-0, Kenny Nims 0-4; Goalkeeper(s): John Galloway (60:00, 4 saves, 13 GA).

Paw Prints: UAlbany’s Corey Small became the 10th player in the program’s history to reach the 100-career goal mark (100) ... Small is tied for ninth with Mike Tesoriero (1992-93) on the career goals chart ... Brian Caufield had six points, including a season-high five assists ... freshman Joe Resetarits had four goals, one his career-high, and has scored multiple times against eight opponents this season ... Matthew Cushing, a freshman who attended East Syracuse-Minoa High School, has a happy homecoming ... Cushing won 10 of 17 face-offs and scored his first collegiate goal in the third quarter ... Cushing also made his first trip to the postgame press conference, “I was just trying to win face-offs and create momentum. The team got up after my goal.”