Trimboli nets overtime winner to lead No. 5 Syracuse men's lacrosse past No. 11 Duke

Cardiac ‘Cuse strikes once again in another overtime thriller. This time, it was freshman Jamie Trimboli nailing the game-winner in his first career start to seal a 12-11 victory for the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team against rival Duke (7-3, 0-1 ACC).

In the extra period, Duke’s Kyle Rowe looked to have won possession, but turned the ball over as Brendan Bomberry came in to help. Sergio Salcido ended up sprinting to the far side with the ball before reversing it back to Trimboli. Trimboli then spun off his check and fired side arm to rocket in the game-winner.

Photo: Morgan Bulman

Fans cheer for Syracuse during the men's lacrosse game on Saturday, March 25 at the Carrier Dome.

"Sergio's dodging down the left side, he rolls back and I guess the pass was for Nick [Mariano]," Trimboli said about his first game-winning goal. "But, I thought it was for me. I caught it, the guy fell over my shoulder, and I shot the ball as hard as I could."

Neither team led by more than two goals throughout the contest. Both the shots and saves were even for each team. What differentiated the teams however was at the X, as SU’s Ben Williams struggled securing face-offs in the first half against Rowe. Syracuse head coach John Desko promptly sent on freshman Danny Varello, who played a huge part in the Orange collecting five of the game's final nine faceoffs. Varello finished 6-of-8 at the X.

“I thought Danny [Varello] did a great job in the second half getting us those possessions that we didn't have in the first half,” Desko said

Led by Nick Mariano’s hat trick, seven different Syracuse (6-1, 2-0 ACC) players scored at least once. Salcido finished with two goals and a pair of assists, netting a crucial man-up goal 35 seconds into the second half to carry the Orange’s momentum. Bomberry and Nate Solomon each added another two goals.

Finally, goalie Evan Molloy had another strong performance, collecting six saves on the day. Spanning from the second to third quarter, Syracuse held Duke scoreless for nearly 24 minutes. The Blue Devils failed to convert on any of their extra-man opportunities (0-3).

Today’s game marked the sixth straight one-goal decision for Syracuse, which is a program record and currently leads the nation. The Orange are 5-1 in those six games, with its only loss coming against Army on Feb. 25.

Following the victory, Desko said that this game mirrored many of SU’s contests this season.

"It was just another Syracuse lacrosse game in the year 2017,” Desko said. “It was another win for us in overtime, so hopefully we've been able to draw on our experiences in the past five games to help us in these situations.”

The Orange will continue ACC play when it travels to face-off with Notre Dame on April 1. First face-off is set for noon in South Bend, Indiana.