Men's Lacrosse

Wardwell turns in stellar 1st half before rocky 2nd in 15-9 win over No. 5 Virginia

Spencer Bodian | Staff Photographer

Bobby Wardwell braces for a shot on Sunday against Virginia. The senior goalkeeper posted 11 saves in the Orange's 15-9 win over the No. 5 Cavaliers.

Bobby Wardwell, Jeff Desko and Tyler Avallone came out of the Syracuse locker room at halftime before anyone else.

Desko and Avallone peppered shots at Wardwell, who stood firm with his body squared to his teammates and his stick held up next to his left ear. He made saves all over the net, repeatedly catching the ball in his stick, having it pop in the air briefly and then back in the pocket.

The senior goalie said the mid-game work helps him stay sharp and was a continuation of a first half in which he held Virginia to just one goal.

“I thought Bobby saw the ball really well and took away some of the opportunities they had in the first half,” SU head coach John Desko said.

Wardwell played his second consecutive full game, and has sat only three minutes in the last three games. He tied his season-high in saves this season with 11, and despite a rocky second half, held off the No. 5 Cavaliers (3-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) in a 15-9 win for No. 3 Syracuse (4-0, 1-0) in front of 4,755 fans in the Carrier Dome.



Wardwell smothered all but one of UVA’s 12 first-half shots, including one by Ryan Tucker that Wardwell went to his knees to block.

“He’s got very quick hands and when he does get a stick on the ball he’s a very good rebounder,” undergraduate student coach and former SU goalie Dominic Lamolinara said. “The way he played in the first half allowed us to do what we did in the second half.”

The latter 30 minutes of action however, didn’t come close to yielding the same results for Wardwell and the Orange’s counterattack. The Cavaliers outscored SU 8-7 in the second half, including a series of six consecutive fourth-quarter goals without a save by Wardwell.

The sixth goal was followed by a media timeout, and Lamolinara said he told Wardwell that he thought his footwork was off. He said at times Wardwell needed to keep his feet square to the attack, and step toward the ball rather than outside of it.

Prior to the blitz by the Virginia offense, Wardwell spent several minutes standing in front of the crease watching SU’s offense. The lulls in action made it tougher for him to anticipate what Virginia was going to bring on offense.

“I started to kind of lose focus a little bit and let up,” Wardwell said. “I thought the game was pretty much in hand but that’s something I need to work on, just mentally staying focused all the time.”

Lamolinara said there’s more of a mental aspect to having to wait around than it is a physical one and being ready for the offense.

He needed to just briefly regain his relentless, stifling first-half form.

With just over a minute remaining in the game, the Cavaliers charged down the field. The vulnerable Wardwell, who hadn’t staved off the attack nearly as well as he did earlier in the game, needed one final stop to permanently halt UVA.

Zed Williams, with two goals already in the game, fired a shot from 15 yards out to the center of the net. Wardwell didn’t flinch. The ball went into the pocket of his stick, popped up in the air for a moment, then back in, just as it did before the half started.

“The most impressive part of Bob today was the way he bounced back,” Lamolinara said. “It’s tough to come back when you see your lead start to dwindle.

“Bob I really think was the MVP of the day, I can’t take anything away from him.”





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