No. 1 Orange hang on to top Georgetown in OT

After a very uneventful first half, Syracuse and Georgetown battled for victory in the final minutes. The Orange (4-0, 0-0) allowed a game-tying goal with only five seconds remaining, then came back to defeat the Hoyas (2-3, 1-1) in sudden death overtime,9-8.

Syracuse took the lead early on, with one goal a piece from Jovan Miller and JoJo Marasco. Davey Emala battled back for Georgetown with two goals to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.

After a 17-minute drought, Jeremy Thompson finally brought the Orange back into the game with a straight shot from beyond the 20-yard line. Stephen Keogh followed, scoring his first goal of the game. After dominating the action late in the second quarter, Syracuse led 4-2 at the half.  

Georgetown was using a heavy dose of zone defense in the first half, slowing the pace of the game as well as SU’s offense. They started the second half with an extra man, and did not do much with the advantage. The Hoyas finally scored again, after a 20-minute lull, with a goal by Ricky Mirabito.

Keogh proceeded to score two more points for the Orange in the third quarter, completing his 16th career hat trick. In between those two goals, Brian Casey got one shot in for Georgetown. The score was 6-4 going into the final quarter.

Emala joined Keogh with a hat trick of his own, scoring on SU goalie John Galloway again, and bringing the Hoyas back to a one-point deficit. Minutes later, Tim Desko scored his first goal of the game for the Orange, with a textbook inside roll. But Emala came right back with his fourth goal, dominating for Georgetown and keeping them in the game.

The Hoyas’ aggressive defense backfired against Marasco’s fast-pace playing, as he scored again for the Orange, this time unassisted. Syracuse held an 8-6 lead until Emala came back to complete his fifth goal with 2:19 remaining in the game. This was his 17th goal of the season in five games, and his second consecutive game with five goals.

Marasco tried to run out the game in the last minute to maintain the 8-7 lead for the Orange. Miller got the ball and then lost it with only 13 seconds left, turning it over to Georgetown. The game came down to the final seconds, as Gerry Reilly scored his second goal of the season with five seconds on the clock, tying it up for the Hoyas at 8-8.

In overtime, Keogh saved the day for the No. 1 Orange with excellent ball movement against the Hoyas’ zone, scoring his fourth goal in the game, and winning it all for the ‘Cuse.

All told, Syracuse had five different goal scorers on the day. This game also marked career win number 48 for Galloway, more than any other lacrosse goalie in SU history. The Orange remain undefeated as they prepare to host Albany at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Carrier Dome.