The Syracuse men’s lacrosse team mounted a comeback in the final minute of the fourth quarter Sunday to beat No. 7 Maryland 11-9 in the first scrimmage of the afternoon. The Orange then fell to Canisius 11-10 after a Golden Griffin goal with one second left on the clock.
The last time Syracuse played against Maryland was during the quarterfinals of last year's NCAA tournament. The Orange lost in overtime in that game.
On Sunday, Maryland came out firing and scored two goals on goalie Matt Lerman, who played in the first half of the Maryland scrimmage. Goals from Orange midfielders Hakeem Lecky and Luke Cometti tied the game before the Terrapins scored two more to take a 4-2 lead after the first quarter. The final goal of the quarter came with a second left on a desperation shot from 30 yards away, and the Orange finished the quarter down by two.
In the second quarter, Maryland scored two more goals to extend the lead to 6-2. The Orange had five shots on goal but couldn’t find the back of the net. At the half, Lerman took a seat and former Terrapin Dominic Lamolinara took over. The sophomore transferred from Maryland after his freshman season last year and is excited to wear Orange.
“I wanted to go to Syracuse before going to Maryland.” he said. “I came up here to visit my junior year, and it was a perfect fit for me. It just didn’t work out [before].”
Lamolinara started off strong and only gave up one goal on five shots in the third quarter. That’s when the Orange offense came to life, with two quick goals from Tim Desko and Collin Donahue. Kevin Rice and Tommy Palasek both added unassisted goals to bring the Orange within one.
Syracuse eventually tied the score in the fourth quarter, but then Maryland scored two more goals to retake the lead with three minutes left. Scott Loy scored and cut the Maryland lead to one. With 49 seconds left, Bobby Eilers scored off an assist from JoJo Marasco to tie the game at 9-9. Rice scored the go-ahead goal with 16 seconds left in regulation to win.
The second-half comeback against Maryland can be credited to good goalkeeping, offensive execution and solid play at the X. The Orange won six of eight faceoffs in the fourth. However, the Terps played the final quarter with mostly backups, so the numbers are slightly misleading.
Head coach John Desko played primarily backups against Canisius and gave the starters a break after a hard-fought Maryland game. The Orange led by as many as five goals in the third quarter, but Canisius went on to score six unanswered goals on their way to victory.
“We’re definitely not in midseason form,” Desko said. “But mentally we’re ready to go, and as coaches, we’re going to spend a lot of time the next couple days watching film and evaluating what we saw on the field.”
The Orange will take the field at the Carrier Dome next Sunday at 2 p.m. for its first regular-season matchup against Albany.
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