Providence College visited the Orange for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome. The Friars brought a 15-game losing streak that dates back to April 15, 2009 to challenge the nation’s top-ranked team.
Providence’s game plan became obvious to everybody present by the middle of the first quarter: just don’t get blown out. Despite Providence’s best efforts, Syracuse got its offense on track to beat the Friars 14-5.
The Friars (0-12, 0-4 Big East) ate up large swaths of the first half standing with the ball behind the Syracuse net, using it as a screen to avoid long sticks Joel White, Brian Megill and John Lade. Much to the chagrin of the 4,956 fans present to watch Syracuse (11-1, 4-0 Big East) honor its seniors by playing their fun offense-first run-and-gun style, the Friars seemed determined to play as little lacrosse as possible.
“This is the fastest game on two feet,” said junior goalie John Galloway. "But I would have watched a baseball game today, rather than this one."
Following Providence’s first four possessions, on which it turned the ball over four times, Syracuse jumped out to a 3-0 lead. At this point, Providence switched to its yawn-inducing ploy, drawing boos and catcalls from fans and Orange players alike.
“We’ve never seen anything like that in all four years here,” said senior midfielder Max Bartig. “I understand wanting to slow the ball down, but to sit at X and completely not even run an offense, it was frustrating.”
Late in the first quarter, with attack Colin Tigh watching time tick down, the crowd turned on the Friars. Orange defensive midfielder Kevin Drew, who was covering Tigh, started pointing to his ear to make sure Tigh could hear the crowd's displeasure.
“We were getting in each other’s ears,” Galloway said. “It was really just that they were trying to stay within a couple goals, not even to win it. It’s not the way you want to play lacrosse. There’s no beating around the bush. It’s not lacrosse what we played today.”
Clearly rattled by Providence’s passive rag-doll offense, the Orange scorers were plagued with missed passes and turnovers and led just 6-3 at the half.
Unlike his players, Syracuse coach John Desko understood Providence’s situation.
“They did what they have to do,” he said. “They had to slow it down, they had to play good team defense, had to hold onto the ball. You can’t blame them for that. I’m sure they don’t want to get into a running game here in the Carrier Dome.”
In the early second half Syracuse’s offense relaxed, scoring three goals in under two minutes to open up a six-goal lead. Desko had the Orange defenders run aggressive double-teams behind their own net to flush out the inactive Friars attack.
Once the Orange defense started forcing more turnovers, the offense looked more like the team that averages 12.5 goals per game.
With less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Chris Daniello controlled the ball behind the net. He beat Friars defender Ryan Riedl with a stutter step and found open field. Riedl worked his stick under Daniello’s left arm, who controlled the ball with his right. Falling forward from the check, Daniello flipped the ball over his shoulder into the top left corner of the net to make it 11-5 Orange. Daniello, a senior midfielder, scored three goals and two assists on the day, as did fellow senior Cody Jamieson.
It wasn’t until midway through the fourth quarter that Desko allowed the seniors who don’t see regular playing time to take the field in front of their families.
“That was one of the things we used as an incentive to try to get off to a good start,” Desko said. “We would like to have to get them in a little bit better, but fortunately the score allowed us to do that in the fourth quarter.”
Before the opening draw, the twelve Syracuse seniors escorted their parents out onto the field.
Syracuse goes on the road next Saturday to play Notre Dame at 7 p.m.
Senior co-captain Chris Daniello makes the Orange's first goal behind his back. Syracuse beat Providence 14-5 at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. (PHOTO: Jamie De Pould)
