Men's Lacrosse

Fast reaction: 3 quick takeaways from No. 6 Syracuse’s 9-8 victory over St. John’s

Ally Moreo | Photo Editor

Nick Mariano (23) had two goals and three assists on the day for Syracuse

NEW YORK — Another Syracuse victory over St. John’s transpired Saturday afternoon, when the No. 6 Orange (4-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) scored the first five goals en route to a 9-8 victory over the Red Storm (1-5). Temperatures hovered in the 20s at DaSilva Memorial Field in Queens in what was SU’s first road game this season. Despite a near St. John’s comeback win, Nick Mariano, Brendan Bomberry and Brad Voigt scored two goals apiece to lead Syracuse to victory one week before its annual showdown at No. 7 Johns Hopkins.

Here are three quick reactions to the game.

Another close finish

For the fourth consecutive game, the game was near-even in the final minute. SJU struck first in the fourth quarter to make it 7-6, but Mariano found Brad Voigt in front of the cage with just over seven minutes left to bump the Orange lead to two. Less than a minute later, Sergio Salcido found a loose ball near the crease and dunked the ball in. St. John’s pulled within one with 53 seconds remaining, but SU won the ensuing faceoff and held the ball the rest of the way.

Redshirt senior goalie Evan Molloy was excellent down the stretch, stopping several straight-away shots. He spearheaded an Orange defense that held SJU to only eight goals, the defense’s best game since the season opener against Siena. A St. John’s goal with under 3:30 left brought the game back to within two, 9-7, but SU pulled away with the victory despite scoring only twice in the 30 minutes that make up the second and third quarters.



Up to 11

Since 1990, Syracuse is 11-0 against the Red Storm. The teams have met in each of the last eight seasons and SU has outscored the Red Storm by 51 in those games. Nine of the 11 contests have been decided by at least six scores. Not on Saturday.

This season’s young SJU team hung with SU until the final seconds. Syracuse scored the first five goals for the second straight SJU matchup, as a Brad Voigt score off a Nick Mariano dish broke the first five minutes of scoreless deadlock. Ben Williams, Jordan Evans and Bomberry followed up with first-quarter goals. SU rode a quality fourth quarter for its 11th all-time victory over the Red Storm.

What’s on second?

Syracuse scored more first-quarter goals (five) than it had since its season-opening blowout one month ago. Yet SJU picked up ground balls, fired off 17 second-quarter shots to SU’s four and capitalized on a two-minute man-up period to pull within two at the break.

After scoring four second-quarter goals against Siena, SU has averaged only 1.5 goals in the second quarter. In its last two games, a last-second victory over then-No. 9 Virginia last week and Saturday’s matchup with SJU, Syracuse has scored only one goal in the second. The Cavaliers outscored SU 4-0 last week in the second and SJU scored three goals to SU’s one on Saturday.

St. Johns head coach Jason Miller said his team plays its best lacrosse in the first half. Such was the case Saturday when, despite even a strong second half, St. John’s did not pull off the momentous upset.





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