A beautiful day for an 800th win

It was a gorgeous, sunny, record-setting day at the Carrier Dome, but things were not so great for the Danes. Syracuse (6-1) brought in the heat from outside, and dominated Albany (2-6) 15-8. Today's game marked the No. 2 Syracuse Orange as the second team ever to reach 800 wins in Division-I lacrosse. Their all-time record is now 800-309-16 since 1916. 

Photo: Jamie De Pould

Senior co-captain Chris Daniello fights off Albany's Brendan Gleason during the third quarter. Daniello led the Orange with two goals and three assists.

After facing a second half scare in their last game against Albany, the Orange played very consistently. They killed it from the start, holding a 4-0 lead until Albany scored their first goal with just over 4 minutes left in the first quarter. This was no surprise for Syracuse and their notorious best first quarter.

They continued to dominate for the remainder of the half with excellent offensive teamwork by Chris Daniello, Josh Amidon, Max Bartig, and JoJo Marasco. Bartig had two goals in the first half, and the other three each scored one. Jovan Miller was also a critical player, hitting his two goals and earning one assist in the half, in his third straight two-goal game. Seven of the Orange men had already registered at least one point by halftime, leading Albany 9-3; their balanced offense was clearly in action.

Albany scored the first goal of the second half, thinking they could pull another near-comeback, but Cuse was never threatened (Syracuse led Albany 10-2 at halftime in their game last season, before struggling through the second half to a fortunate 15-13 win). Although Mr. 100, Stephen Keogh, had one goal and one assist in the first half, his game really took off in the second. With 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Keogh got the ball from Amidon and bounced it into the goal, bringing the score to 12-5 and hitting his 100th career point milestone at Syracuse.

With a little over 5 minutes left in the 3rd, Amidon snuck in a goal, score 13-6, while a brawl between Albany's Mike Banks and Cody Jamieson was drawing most of the attention. Once the ball was not in play, Banks cross checked Jamieson across the neck and went unnoticed by the refs. Jamieson came right back, in play, with another goal for the Orange. David Brock, who led the Great Danes most of the game, hit his second shot before the end of the quarter, bringing the score to 14-7.

Albany scored once more, over four minutes into the 4th quarter, but that was the end for them. Keogh hit one low, his third goal in the game, with 7:28 remaining. With the score at 15-8, goalie John Galloway came out of the game, and coach, John Desko, sent in the reserves on defense. The Orange held back in a calm rest of the fourth quarter, just passing around, and Albany's attempt to force turnovers didn't do much. They played out the last few minutes, and not much changed on the scoreboard.

The game ended at a final score of 15-8. Bartig had three goals from up top, Keogh scored three from down low (four points total), and Daniello had five points all around; balanced, indeed.

It was a quiet day for Jeremy Thompson, who scored the first goal of the game and did not see much more action after that, but a family feud was brewing, nonetheless. The next time Syracuse plays Albany, Thompson will be facing his brother, Miles, and cousin, Ty. The third Thompson brother, Lyle, has verbally committed to play for Albany as well, but won't join them until the 2010 season. Last summer, Syracuse had been recruiting all three boys. Aside from Albany, Miles and Lyle had especially been considering Cuse, where Jeremy had just transferred after helping lead Onondaga Community College to two junior college naional titles. Unfortunately, Jeremy seemed to be the only Thompson brother SU was interested in, so the other three boys are now Albany-bound.

The Syracuse Orange will play their next game away against Princeton at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Junior attack Stephen Keogh shoots is 100th career goal with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Keogh scored three goals in the Orange's 800th all-time win.   (PHOTO: Jamie De Pould)