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Lacrosse Weekly - 4/24/08

Syracuse dominates the I-90 corridor.
Syracuse, in the midst of a big football weekend, played Albany in the Carrier Dome in lacrosse. Albany also had a game on Sunday, so Syracuse being nice, moved the game for Albany to Friday. Instead of having a football/lacrosse Saturday we had a Friday evening lacrosse treat. In a major defensive battle, Syracuse edges out Albany ten to five.

This, as I said, was a very defensive game. Syracuse was averaging 13.7 goals per game before this contest and they only managed to score ten. Similarly, Albany has averaged 9.1 goals per game, but of course only ended up with five. This game was full of excellent defensive plays, including a lot of intercepted passes from both teams. Some of the goals were spectacular from Syracuse however, including some diving shots and bounce shots that were dazzling. Also, the score would have been much higher but Syracuse hit the posts on several shots, especially in the second quarter.

Mike Leveille again led in scoring, earning three goals. Kenny Nims, Steven Brooks, and Dan Hardy each had an assist in the game. Three players had three points a piece. Steven Brooks also had the most ground balls with five. Danny Brennan did not have his best game, but did well as he won ten of 17 face offs. John Galloway had an excellent game earning 17 saves, while only allowing five goals in 60 minutes of work.

Syracuse again shot the heck (a subtle Greg Robinson reference) out of the ball, amassing 41 shots, while Albany only had 28. Albany led in picking up more ground balls however with 38. Syracuse only picked up 34. DBren was the only one for Syracuse to win a face off, therefore Syracuse won ten out of the 19 total face offs. Albany cleared the ball 14 out of 21, but Syracuse had more with 18 out of 23 clears. Neither team capitalized on any extra man opportunities. Syracuse went zero for three, while Albany scored on zero of four. Albany had a total of ten saves, all by the tights wearing Brett Queener, while Syracuse had 17 saves. Finally, Syracuse won the turnover battle having 21, while Albany had 24. Syracuse had never lost to Albany in the five meetings before this game. They are still undefeated when playing the Great Danes. The complete box score from the game can be found here.

Syracuse held steady in the rankings. They remain #1 in the Coaches Poll, three points above Duke in second place. Syracuse also remains #2 in the Inside Lacrosse poll, only one point behind Duke. They earned nine first place votes, again only one behind Duke. The entire Inside Lacrosse poll is here, and the complete USILA (Coaches) Poll is here.

There again were a lot of interesting developments on the scoreboard this past weekend, including an upset loss by Cornell to Princeton having the Big Red fall to 9-3. Notable scores include:

Friday April 18:

Quinnipiac 6 – Notre Dame 16

Villanova 7 – Towson 4

Saturday April 19:

Robert Morris 5 – Delaware 20

Army 6 – Duke 10

UMass 8 – Georgetown 12

Johns Hopkins 12 – Navy 5

Hofstra 9 – North Carolina 13

Denver 13 – Ohio State 20

Cornell 7 – Princeton 11

Hartford 5 – UMBC 13

Dartmouth 7 – Virginia 11

St. Joseph’s 9 – Wagner 4*
*This one was included for my law school colleague Anthony, a fine Seahawk alumnus and NFL Draft Expert who will guest author a recap of the draft on Orange::44 next week.

Sunday April 20:

Vermont 3 – Albany 13

Notre Dame 14 – Lehigh 7

Rutgers 8 – Penn State 4

Tuesday April 22:

Fairfield 10 – Massachusetts 9

Hofstra 14 – Stony Brook 13

Wednesday April 23:

Towson 7 – Johns Hopkins 16

Wagner 3 – Providence 12

Marist 6 – Sienna 8

The complete Inside Lacrosse scoreboard can be found here.

Syracuse will take on the Massachusetts Minutemen from Amherst, Massachusetts, this Saturday in the Carrier Dome at 2:00pm. Syracuse will look to exact revenge from last season’s humiliating loss to UMass in Amherst that eliminated Syracuse from the possibility of going to the tournament. Look for Syracuse to unmercifully bring the offense, and Massachusetts to get frustrated and commit several penalties down the stretch, just like in 2006. Syracuse is already cruising on a nine game win streak, and UMass has a current record of 5-7. I have a feeling this game will not be a struggle for the Orange this season, but in a rivalry game you never know.

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