Orange Race Past Colgate on Senior Day

Saturday, May 7

Syracuse, NY

1 p.m.

Syracuse University

11-4

Colgate

4-10

Colgate

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

5/7/2016 4:20:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

'Cuse picks up most lopsided win since 2009

After an eight-goal third quarter outburst and another stingy defensive effort, the No. 5 Syracuse men's lacrosse team (11-4) rolled to an impressive 18-3 win over Colgate (4-10) on Senior Day in the Carrier Dome.

After Syracuse jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, Colgate broke the scoreless drought with 11:50 remaining before halftime, but an 11-0 'Cuse run ensued from that point into the fourth quarter to allow the Orange to roll in the regular season finale. The victory was the most one-sided decision since the 2009 season opener when Syracuse defeated Providence 22-3.

Dylan Donahue posted a five-point effort, scoring four goals in the process, to lead a balanced offensive attack that saw 10 different players score for the Orange in the route. Sergio Salcido (2-2) contributed four points, while Pat Carlin, Nick Mariano, Nick Weston and Devin Shewell also recorded two goals each.

As it has in each of the last-six contests, Syracuse held its opponent under-10 goals through 60 minutes. Evan Molloy allowed just one goal and made four saves over his 38 minutes of action, while Warren Hill and Tyler Avallone allowed only one goal apiece in replacement of Molloy.

Marcus Cunningham and Scott Firman each caused a pair of turnovers in the win as well to spur the solid defensive effort.

Ben Williams went 9-of-14 at the faceoff X, collecting seven ground balls and Cal Paduda (3-of-3), Nate Farrell (1-of-1) and Austin Wentworth (1-of-2) also contributed wins off restarts.

"I think it went about as well as it could have for us today," said head coach John Desko. "We were able to get our starters out there and play some pretty good offense. Our execution was good. After the first quarter we started shooting a lot better. Defensively we were pretty stingy at that end of the field and in goal. We played good team defense with our slides once again. In the second half we got a lot of guys in that hadn't had a chance to play a lot, including our seniors. I really don't know how it could have gone any better for us today."

After trading possessions for the first 3:38 of the game, Joe Gillis got things going for the Orange, receiving a pass from Jordan Evans and firing the game's first goal. Nearly three minutes later, Nick Mariano doubled up the Orange's early lead, faking a shot high before stepping past his defender and shooting into the back of the net.

A scoreless streak spanning over eight minutes for both sides featured multiple Syracuse opportunities missing just wide of the cage or finding the pipe.
However, with time winding down in the period, a diving Nick Weston snuck one past Colgate's Brandon Burke to give the Orange a 3-0 lead.

The lead would grow before the quarter's end. After forcing a Colgate turnover off the faceoff, Ben Williams found Dylan Donahue who scored with just two seconds to play in the period.

Mariano continued the Orange run to start the second, extending the lead to 5-0 with an unassisted goal, his second of the day and team-leading 34th of the season.

Syracuse's shutout was finally ended 18:10 into the game, when Jack Stebbins fought off three defenders before scoring Colgate's first goal of the game.

The response was quick. The ensuing Orange possession resulted in a nifty pass from Salcido to Donahue, who collected the pass before quickly finishing from just in front of the net to ignite the 11-0 Orange run that put the game out of reach.

A man-up possession with just under eight to go in the half gave the Orange another scoring opportunity. Salcido picked up his second assist of the day on the play, finding Jordan Evans across the crease and helping the Orange push to a 7-1 lead heading into the half.

Coming out of the locker room, Donahue led the way, picking up his second hat trick of the season and 17th of his career to give the Orange a seven-goal lead. Continuing the run, Matt Lane joined in the action, 4:17 into the second half, backing his defender down before spinning and firing his first goal of the afternoon.

Salcido found the goal column for the first time of the day with 8:37 to play in the third, catching a pass from Donahue in the center of the field and beating the Colgate net minder Brandon Burke to the top of the net.

Donahue added another goal of his own 46 seconds later, extending the Orange lead to double-digits, 11-1. Just 48 Seconds later, Salcido scored his second goal in 1:34 of game action off a pass from Matt Lane on a man-up opportunity, pushing the lead to 11.

Weston got back in on the goal-barrage with 6:13 to go in the quarter, recording his second goal of the day to set his career high for both goals and points in a game.

The Orange kept it coming, getting freshmen Brad Voigt and Nate Solomon involved. Voigt's assist was the second of his career, while Solomon's goal was his third in three games.

Carlin then joined in the action with 1:18 to play in the period, giving Syracuse a 15-1 lead on his second career goal. The goal capped off an eight-goal quarter, the largest of the season for the Orange.

Devin Shewell opened up the fourth with his first goal of the day, and fifth of the season, becoming the 10th goal-scorer for the Orange on the day.

The second-longest Orange opponent drought of the season ended after 31:20 of scoreless action, as Matt Donavan picked up his first goal of the season, and the second of the day for Colgate.

Shewell got the goal right back, backing his defender down before gaining enough separation to fire his second goal of the quarter and extend the Orange's lead back to 15 with 9:27 to play.

Nick Piroli placed his name on the stat sheet with 4:29 left, finding Carlin across the field for the assist. Carlin's goal marked his single-game career high for both goals and points, as it was his second of the day.

With just under a minute to play, Colgate snuck one more by the Orange, courtesy of Cam Williams, giving the game its final result at 18-3.

Syracuse will next await its fate in the NCAA Tournament. The ACC Champions know they're in the field as a result of the conference's automatic qualifying berth, but will find out who they'll meet in the first round on Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU during the NCAA Tournament selection show.

If the Orange is one of the top-eight seeds, they'll host and NCAA Tournament game for the fourth-straight season.

GAME NOTES: Donahue's first quarter goal extended his goal-scoring streak to 40 games and his point streak to 54 games, both marks that lead the nation … His five points today moved him past Kevin Rice (222) for 12th on Syracuse's all-time points list. He's now three points behind Tom Korrie (228) and four behind Mike Springer (229) from breaking into the top-10 … Donahue's four goals now give him 142 in his career, which ties him with Tom Abbott (142) for seventh all-time at Syracuse. He's eight goals shy of Mike Powell (150) for sixth in program history … Syracuse's 11 wins marks the fourth-straight season 'Cuse has won at least 11 games and has done so in eight of the last-nine seasons ... The three goals is the fewest Syracuse has allowed since a 9-3 victory over Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Semifinals in 2013.