For a moment, it seemed as if time had flown forward a week.

Bodies were lunging at each other and flags were flying all over the Carrier Dome in a 14-13 Syracuse win.

The physical matchup is to be expected Saturday versus rival Massachusetts, but one could have mistaken the SU game against Albany to be the bad-blooded contest.

Albany’s frustrations mounted as the Orange flew out to a quick 5-0 lead and were capped off on a late hit by defenseman Chris Schongar on Syracuse attackman Joe Yevoli. The grad student scored on a pretty behind-the-back shot and was checked to the ground after the whistle blew. Yevoli was slow getting up, although he had enough energy to tell Schongar what he thought of the hit, and had to be helped off the field.

‘This game is definitely tough,’ Yevoli said. ‘Sometimes emotions get high, and people stop thinking and come with late hits, stupid hits.’

But that was just a precursor to a wild incident with a little over three minutes left in the third quarter.

After Albany cut the SU lead to three, there was a long, physical scramble for the ensuing faceoff. The ball was finally scooped up Albany’s Schongar, but junior middie Craig Hammond was still in pursuit. Hammond realized he would not be able to catch Schongar dashing up the field, and he slowed down. About 10 yards removed from the ball carrier, Albany’s Dan Barnes launched himself into Hammond, knocking SU’s middie to the ground.

Barnes was flagged for unnecessary roughness, a one-minute penalty. The Albany bench did not agree with the call and argued at length with the officials. The referees then penalized the Great Danes for two more minutes for a bench penalty – stepping out of the designated area to argue the call. The game was delayed for nearly five minutes as the argument persisted, and the Dome crowd voiced its displeasure.

‘I don’t know what that was against Craig,’ Yevoli said. ‘The biggest thing is just to keep our heads. Coach Desko keeps telling us not to retaliate and keep our composure. That’s something we need to do, especially because it’s such a physical game.’

After the penalty, Desko and Albany coach Scott Marr exchanged energetic conversations about what exactly happened. Marr said after the game he argued the Barnes penalty, but wrongfully so, because he didn’t see what exactly happened.

‘I was angry,’ Marr said. ‘I saw the tail end. I was watching the ball go up the field. I saw my faceoff kid running straight to the box. When they collided and went down, I didn’t see the actual hit. It looked like to me he was running to the box and they just collided. But I was told later on he actually hit him.’

New Faces

With a comfortable lead at times, as well as a shorter roster due to injury, some SU players who had seen little time before Friday played significant minutes against Albany.

Although none of the inexperienced faces showed up on the stat sheet, Desko shuffled many of them in to give them time and to rest others. With middies Steven Brooks and Greg Rommel out for the season, as well as attackman Greg Niewieroski, some Syracuse middies saw significantly more action than they had most of the season.

Senior Jon Bone saw a lot of action, scooping up two ground balls, and playing a key role in SU clears.

Other midfielders that helped to spell the starting unit were Kiernan Murphy, Steve Babbles, Andrew Sullivan and Mike Hatton.

It’s been the story of the season for the Orange, as the team has dug deep into the bench because of the injuries that ravaged its midfield. So far, everyone has been filling in well to propel the team on its five-game winning streak.

‘We have a great upperclass(men) as well as great underclassmen too,’ senior Brett Bucktooth said. ‘It’s going to be a great mix and fun to ride it out till the end of the season.’

This and that …

Albany goalie Brett Queener has been known to leave the cage and head downfield. The junior scored two goals early in the season. But the first time he left the net he was knocked to the ground by SU freshman Pat Perritt at midfield. The next time, he dodged the Orange, getting 10 yards in front of the cage and assisting on a goal by Albany’s Frank Resetarits. …The game was full of milestones for the Orange – Brett Bucktooth and Mike Leveille each scored their 50th career goals, and Virginia transfer Joe Yevoli registered his 100th career goal. … Bucktooth notched his fourth straight hat trick with five goals.

Published on April 22, 2006 at 12:00 pm