In what was supposed to be a tense battle with rival Massachusetts, Syracuse skipped the theatrics. The No. 8 Orange controlled the No. 10 Minutemen, dominating defensively in the second half en route to a 12-7 win Saturday at the Carrier Dome.

The Orange lost to UMass twice last year, the second defeat eliminating SU from the playoffs. But Syracuse (7-4) exacted revenge on Senior Day, even if it came in a less thrilling and intense manner than most of the 4,586 in attendance expected.

Massachusetts (9-4) was held scoreless for more than 25 minutes in the second half, and the Orange was led by one of the honorees, senior Brett Bucktooth, as he tallied his fifth straight hat trick with three goals. The five-goal win was a breath of fresh air for SU, which had played two straight overtime games and three straight one-goal games.

In the two previous games against Rutgers and Albany, the Orange held leads going into the fourth quarter, but left the door open for the opponents to tie the game. On Saturday, the team clamped down to make sure it didn’t happen again.

‘Today the guys did a much better job of running the offense,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘We didn’t get those turnovers that we’ve had in the fourth quarter of those other games. We got stops from our defense which took away their opportunities. It was a good team effort and learning from those fourth quarters in those other two games.’

Eager not to have another close game, especially against a disliked opponent such as UMass, the defense took control in the second half. Forcing ground balls, intercepting passes and receiving solid goalkeeping from freshman Pete Coluccini, the Orange limited UMass to a goal with 10 minutes, 21 seconds left in the third quarter and then one more against third-string goalie Casey Rotella with 15 seconds left.

‘It was something we were talking about in the huddle after every time they scored a goal,’ Syracuse defenseman John Wright said. ‘We said, ‘OK we’re gonna shut them out, we’re gonna keep them down.’ We’ve obviously learned our lesson the last two games. We’ve been preaching it all week.’

And all the focus paid off – at least in the second half. The game started in an ugly fashion. After the Orange scored two quick goals to lead off the contest, UMass dominated possession time and ran off four straight goals. SU continually turned the ball over, especially on clears, an area in which the Orange went 4-10 in the first period. Syracuse was out-shot in the period, 17-5.

But SU recovered. In the second quarter, goals by Bucktooth and freshman Matt Abbott tied the game. After a few more lead changes, senior Brian Crockett gave the Orange the lead for good, 6-5, halfway through the quarter.

SU freshman Pat Perritt extended the lead to two with one of the prettiest goals of the year. Rushing towards the cage, the freshman was hit in stride with a pass from Orange attackman Joe Yevoli. Perritt took the pass and ran toward the left side of the cage, but flipped the ball behind his head, baffling UMass goalie Doc Schneider with a shot that found the right side of the net.

The goal topped off a strong period for the Orange, as it outscored the Minutemen, 5-1. With the momentum and the lead, the Orange grinded through the second half, able to possess the ball and not rush things offensively.

‘We need to possess the ball on the offensive end of the field, control the ball and look for good shots, and I think that helps in the defensive end,’ Desko said. ‘Also, I think we did a pretty good job getting the ball on the ground. We played good individual defense after the first quarter.’

With a lead and the defense stifling the UMass attack, especially on man-ups (the Minutemen were 0-5), the Orange attack was able to possess the ball and play patiently. Although it didn’t play its sharpest game of the year, the attack did enough to propel the Orange to its sixth straight win.

For a team that was sitting at 1-4 and looking in at the playoffs from the outside, the month of April has brought about a huge turnaround. Now at 7-4 the Orange is riding a hot streak into the home stretch of the season. SU has one more regular season game next weekend against Colgate before it likely heads to its 24th straight postseason.

While the win may have been extra sweet for the Orange, there is still work to be done to keep that wave of momentum into May.

‘We don’t lose in May, that’s the thing around here,’ junior defenseman Steve Panarelli said. ‘We’re not done yet, we’re happy with the win, but it’s just another win. We’re trying to move on and get another win, a good seed in the playoffs and hopefully get another home game back here.’

Published on April 30, 2006 at 12:00 pm