Orange Cruises Past Albany, 17-12

Thursday, April 2

Syracuse, NY

7 pm

Syracuse University

8-1

Albany

7-2

Albany

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

4/2/2015 11:23:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Henry Schoonmaker scores five goals in win over in-state rival

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Led by Henry Schoonmaker and Ben Williams, No. 2 Syracuse (8-1) bounced back from its loss at Notre Dame with a 17-12 victory against No. 9 Albany (7-2) on Thursday, April 2 at the Carrier Dome.

Schoonmaker scored a career-high five goals, including two man-down tallies. Williams won 24-of-27 (.889) faceoffs. He also picked up a career-high 15 ground balls, tied for the third-best, single-game total in school history. Williams posted two perfect quarters, going 9-for-9 at the X in both the first and third periods.

The duo didn't do it alone. The Orange got contributions from all over the field. Nicky Galasso matched his personal best with four goals and added an assist to finish with a season-high five points. Kevin Rice recorded his third seven-point game of the year on three goals and four assists.

"Our game plan going in was to win faceoffs and be efficient offensively with the ball," Orange head coach John Desko said. "Try to score and just make them play a lot of defense. I think we pretty much did that."

Things got off to a fast start with both teams scoring four times in the first quarter. Jordan Evans helped fuel the SU offense early, notching one goal and one assist in the opening period.

In the second quarter, Syracuse started to wear the Great Danes down. The Orange outscored Albany 4-1 to take an 8-5 lead at the half. Schoonmaker netted a pair of goals in the period, including the team's first man-down goal of the year after a slashing call against Mike Messina.

The Orange kept the pressure on after halftime and eventually built a 12-7 advantage at the 8:03 mark of the third on Schoonmaker's second man-down goal in as many quarters.

Albany's Seth Oakes scored off a pass from Lyle Thompson less than two minutes after Schoonmaker's short-handed tally to close the gap to 12-8, but the Orange responded with four straight goals to go up 16-8 and eliminate any chance of an Albany rally.

Rice played a key role in the game-clinching spurt. He factored in three of the four goals, notching the first goal in the run and feeding Ryan Simmons and Galasso for scores to cap the spree.

The Great Danes logged four of the game's last five goals as Syracuse went to its bench, but never seriously threatened the home team.

Thompson matched Rice for game-high scoring honors with seven points on four goals and three assists. The Great Danes also got two goals each from Oakes, Connor Fields and Matt Garziano. Fields added an assist to finish with three points.

Orange goalie Bobby Wardwell backstopped a defense that kept the Great Danes to six goals below their season average of 18.38 per contest. He made 12 saves to tie his career high.

The SU defense also successfully killed all five Albany extra-man chances, with Schoonmaker turning the tables and scoring twice short-handed.

Syracuse outshot the Great Danes, 45-35. The Orange also won 28 of the game's 33 faceoffs to dominate possession time.

The Orange now has a rare weekend off. Syracuse doesn't return to the field until Saturday, April 11 when it wraps up ACC play at North Carolina. Start time against the Tar Heels is slated for 4 p.m. at Fetzer Field.

Game Notes: With the victory, Syracuse improved to 7-0 this at home this season and 12-1 all-time against Albany … The win was SU's sixth of the year against a nationally-ranked opponent and its fourth against a top-10 team … Williams' 15 grounders were the most for an SU player since Sam Bassett set the team single-game record with 21 on May 6, 2000 versus Georgetown. Williams has 96 ground balls on the year, good for fourth on the team single-season record list … Junior Ralph D'Agostino made his first start on close defense for the Orange. He replaced senior Sean Young in the lineup, ending Young's streak of 40 consecutive starts … At halftime, Syracuse honored former All-American and 2015 Spirit of Tewaaraton recipient Oren Lyons, as well as members of the undefeated 1957 Syracuse team and members of the 1983 and 2014 Iroquois Nationals.