Keogh is the official OT hero.
Considering that Syracuse won a game with a total of five goals is one of the most ridiculous phrases I could have written, this game was not your typical Syracuse/Hopkins affair. The bitter rivals took to the Carrier Dome field and played a very odd game considering the talent and history of these teams. But Syracuse held on to the top spot in the lacrosse world and gained a victory over a hated rival. Not without some controversy, but Syracuse is your winner in double overtime five to four.
Syracuse started out the game on top scoring first in the first couple of minutes. But then it was a lot of passing and missing for both teams. Hopkins goalie Pierce Bassett was pretty outstanding in the game as well. Hopkins evened the game with the only other goal in the first quarter. Hopkins then scored the next two before Syracuse got one goal back before the end of the first half. Heading into halftime down a goal was unexpected for the Orange. Syracuse then tied the game midway through the third quarter before Hopkins took the lead heading into the fourth quarter. Syracuse then took almost all the fourth quarter to tie the game, earning the tying goal with 1:40 remaining. Then the Orange and the Blue Jays headed to overtime. It was almost over for Syracuse in the second overtime with just four seconds left. Hopkins scored a goal but it was waived off for Hopkins' Kyle Wharton as he jumped in the crease. Syracuse then won the faceoff in the second overtime, one of the few in the game, and then scored 15 seconds into the second overtime. Stephen Keogh earned another game winner for the Orange.
- Keogh was the leading scorer for the Orange, picking up a hat trick on the winning goal. He also took the most shots for the Orange with nine. Josh Amidon had the other two goals for the Orange.
- Tim Palasek earned two assists against his former team. Three other players had an assist, including Amidon, who combined for three points.
- Joel White lead the team with ground balls. He picked up five in the contest.
- Jeremy Thompson went 3-6 at the faceoff X, including the most important at the start of double overtime. Otherwise, Syracuse was not good at the X. Chris Daddio was 0-2, Tim Harder was 0-1, Josh Knight was 0-1, and Ricky Buhr was 1-4.
- Three players had two turnovers, while six other players had one.
- John Galloway played fairly well earning six saves and four goals against in the 64:15 win.
- Syracuse led Hopkins in shots, taking 33 to 25.
- Syracuse just earned one more ground ball than Hopkins, 31 to 30.
- Syracuse was dreadful at the X as stated previously. Hopkins won 10-14.
- Both teams only failed to clear twice. Hopkins was 19-21, while Syracuse was 25-27.
- Neither team converted on an extra-man opportunity. Hopkins was 0-3 and Syracuse was 0-2.
- Hopkins goalie Bassett had 16 saves in his five goal loss. Galloway again had six.
- Hopkins actually had more turnovers than Syracuse, picking up 20 to 14.
- Mark Dixon, an official and contributer to Inside Lacrosse thinks that, based on the rule, Hopkins was robbed of a win. I think it's a really close call, but his analysis is interesting and worth a read here. A replay is also provided.
- The last time Syracuse Scored only five goals in a game was 1982. Sounds about right.
- Syracuse is only 20% on extra-man opportunities on the season. That is not helpful to the cause for an Orange offense that is not absolutely dominant in a game.
- Clearly the face off was a huge issue for Syracuse in this game. Hopkins dominated the Orange and thus were gained more opportunities via possessions. However Syracuse was more careful with their opportunities, obviously coming up the winner and gaining the final faceoff of the game. This is evident by the fact SU took more shots and had less turnovers. However, the X will be a factor and something to be concerned about and watch as the season and hopefully NCAA Tournament progresses.
- The complete box score can be found here.
And we take a look around the lacrosse world at the most interesting or important scores of the week. Games involving Big East members are in italics.
Wednesday March 16:
Hartford 6 - Bucknell 7
Denver 12 - Loyola 8
Thursday March 17:
Duke 14 - North Carolina 9
Saturday March 19:
Denver 13 - Sacred Heart 12 in 4 OT
Penn State 8 - UMass 7
St. John's 9 - Vermont 14
Army 12 - Rutgers 4
Providence 5 - Georgetown 14
Cornell 10 - Yale 8
Quinnipiac 9 - Hartford 10 in OT
Hofstra 6 - Delaware 7
Bryant 4 - Hobart 5
Manhattan 6 - Villanova 10
Princeton 3 - Penn 8
Ohio State 11 - Virginia 14
Sunday March 20:
Dartmouth 10 - Duke 18
The complete Inside Lacrosse scoreboard can be found here.
And now we take a look at the Big East Conference standings.
1. #1 Syracuse 6-0 (1-0)
2. #3 Notre Dame 4-0 (0-0)
3. #11/7 Villanova 7-1 (0-0)
4. UNR/ARV Georgetown 3-3 (2-1)
5. Rutgers 5-2 (0-0)
6. Providence 1-4 (0-1)
7. St. John's 1-5 (0-1)
Proud day for Providence as they are not dead last in the standings. That might be for the first time in the brief history of the conference. Notre Dame continues to be perfect. Villanova continues to play really well and their only loss continues to be against Bucknell. Georgetown came back from the overtime loss to Syracuse with a pounding of Providence this past weekend.
Syracuse next travels to a true road game against Villanova. The game is currently not scheduled for television as of yet. This will actually be an interesting game as Syracuse is not playing well on offense in their last couple of games, and Villanova continues to put up good numbers. However they have not played a defense as good as Syracuse, so this will be an interesting contest. And be sure you check out College Cross for more on Division 1 lacrosse. As their newest contributer I'll have new articles about lacrosse coming there soon, and I join a great, Syracuse heavy, staff with Sean Keeley from Nunes/Magician and Matt Glaude, a true lacrosse statistic wiz, from Hoya Suxa. My first article about adding a shot clock to NCAA lax can be found here.
0 Responses to “Lacrosse Weekly - 3/22/11”
Post a Comment