Syracuse 15, Hofstra 10
After weeks of practicing with the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team, playing against similar Orange shirts can get a bit repetitive for Derek Maltz [13].
The junior attackman made good use of his first shot at another team Saturday, netting four goals and an assist to help the Orange hold off Hofstra, 15-10 in the first game of an exhibition series Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.
“It was great to get out there against two quality opponents, to really work on what we’ve been implementing offensively and defensively,” Maltz said. “It was a great day, and I’m really happy for the guys; we went out there and we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish.”
Luke Cometti [14]added three goals for the Orange, who jumped to a 4-0 lead after the first quarter. JoJo Marasco [15] dished out three assists for Syracuse, often drifting behind the net from his usual midfield spot to move the ball around the field.
“I felt real comfortable,” Marasco said of drifting up top. “When the coaches give me the opportunity to do that, it’s real exciting. I like to feed the ball, and when they give me the opportunity, I’m going to take it.”
The Orange also found a secret weapon in the faceoffs, an area where they consistently struggled last year. Chris Daddio [16] emerged as a force in the circle, winning eight of 11 faceoffs to lead the team.
“I thought he was getting the ball out well, and making some great decisions after he was getting it out,” head coach John Desko said. “It was great to see him getting the ball away from the other guys.”
The Orange held Hofstra to one goal and only four shots in the first half. This dominant defense is the team’s most experienced asset.
“I thought of a couple of years ago, with the defense we had, we could always rely on it to make our offense better,” Desko said. “If the other team got a one or two goal lead, we never seemed to panic. If we can keep playing like today on defense, it’s only going to help the offense play looser and be more productive.”
Torin Varn [17] led Hofstra with five goals, including three in the final period to pull the Pride within one of the Orangel ead. But a late spurt led by Pat Powderly [18] (1 goal, 2 assists) slammed the door on the comeback.
Syracuse 16, Holy Cross 6
Powderly tallied three goals and two assists, and Billy Ward [19] had three goals and an assist to help Syracuse in a rout of the Crusaders in the final exhibition.
Marasco added a goal and two assists for the Orange, who outscored Holy Cross 6-1 in the third quarter to take control. Matt Walters [20], Dylan Donahue [21] and Derek DeJoe [22] each supplied two goals for Syracuse.
Chris Daddio won six of seven faceoffs for Syracuse, Cal Paduda [23] was 5-of-6 and Brendan Conroy [24] went 5-for-7 on faceoffs for the Orange.
Terry McKenna paced the Crusaders with three goals, and John Hannan chipped in two goals and an assist — leading to all three first-half goals to keep his team within 6-3 at halftime.
