March 20, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The second-ranked Syracuse men's lacrosse team jumped to an 8-1 third-quarter lead and held off a late rally by seventh-ranked Johns Hopkins as the Orange picked up a 10-7 win before 6,504 fans at Homewood Field Saturday evening. The win, the fourth straight for Syracuse over Johns Hopkins, runs the Orange record to 4-1 on the the year. The Blue Jays dropped their second straight and slip to 4-3.

Senior Max Bartig fueled the 8-1 run to open the game for the Orange as he opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game and later added back-to-back goals in the first seven minutes of the third quarter to push a 5-1 halftime lead to 7-1. Junior Stephen Keogh's second goal of the game made it 8-1 less than a minute after Bartig's third goal of the game, but JHU, which had been held off the board for more than 23 minutes, rallied.

Senior Steven Boyle sandwiched a pair of goals around a tally by freshman Zach Palmer and sophomore Tom Palasek scored on a nifty dodge from the side to slice the deficit to 8-5 less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter.

A goal by Jeremy Thompson for Syracuse 45 seconds after Palasek's goal halted the four-goal run for the Blue Jays, but Palasek struck again just over five minutes later to make it 9-6 and freshman John Greeley scored his second goal of the game with just under three minutes remaining to bring the Blue Jays within two at 9-7.

The Blue Jays hopes for a comeback were dashed just nine seconds after Greeley's goal as Joel White scooped up the ground ball on the ensuing faceoff and raced into the Blue Jay zone, where he got his hands free from eight yards out to the left of Blue Jay goalie Michael Gvozden and blew home his first goal of the season.

The story of the game was the performance of the Syracuse defense, which kept the Blue Jays away from the goal for nearly three full quarters before the late-game rally. Junior John Galloway posted nine saves, including seven in the second half - two of which came on back-to-back shots from in close in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter. What could have been a 5-2 deficit for the Blue Jays if either of those two shots go was instead a 6-1 hole when Bartig scored at the 13:37 mark.

Bartig led the Orange with his three goals, while Thompson and Keogh added two goals apiece. Senior Cody Jamieson added one goal and three assists for Syracuse, which held advantages in shots (37-26), groundballs (36-25) and faceoffs (14-of-20).

Boyle totaled two goals and two assists, while Greeley and Palasek's two-goal games were the first of their career. Gvozden was solid goal for the Blue Jays as he posted 14 saves, including several of the highlight-reel variety.

Johns Hopkins returns to action next Saturday when the Blue Jays play at top-ranked Virginia.

#2 Syracuse (4-1)3-2-3-2/10

#7 Johns Hopkins (4-3)0-1-2-4/7

Goals: S: Bartig-3, Thompson-2, Keogh-2, Jamieson, Marasco, White. J: Boyle-2, Palasek-2, Greeley-2, Palmer. Assists: S: Jamieson-3, Daniello-2, Amidon. J: Boyle-2, Palasek, Palmer. Saves: S: Galloway-9. J: Gvozden-14. Shots: S-37. J-26. EMO: S: 2-for-2. J: 1-for-4. Attendance: 6.504.

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