Syracuse University
Army
Men's Lacrosse Wins Season Opener Against No. 14 Army, 9-4
2/26/2005 10:09:12 PM | Men's Lacrosse
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Junior attackman Brian Crockett (Yorktown, N.Y.) scored a game-high four goals and had an assist to help defending national champion Syracuse to a 9-4 victory against No. 14 Army at the Carrier Dome. It was the first game of the season for both Syracuse and Army and marked the Orange's ninth-straight season-opening win.
The four goals allowed by the Syracuse defense marked the fewest since a 13-4 victory against Rutgers on April 13, 2002. Senior All-America candidate Jay Pfeifer (Towson, Md.) was on his game with 12 saves.
Senior defenseman Scott Ditzell (Geneva, N.Y.) scored the first goal of the season for No. 3-ranked SU at 12:18 of the first quarter, on a fast break that was set up for him by Pfeifer's long outlet pass. Army tied it at 1-1 when Chris Couch found John Walker at 7:53 of the opening period. The Orange took a 2-1 lead when juniors Brett Bucktooth (Onondaga Nation, N.Y.) and Greg Rommel (Syracuse, N.Y.) connected with 4:12 left.
Each team scored just one goal in the second quarter. SU went up 3-1 when Crockett found freshman attackman Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) all alone on the crease after a quick restart just 50 seconds into the period. Jim Wagner tallied Army's second goal off a feed from Walker with 7:33 remaining in the first half.
Syracuse led 3-2 at halftime.
The Black Knights (0-1) tied the contest at 3-3 when Matt Scheel registered an unassisted goal at 12:46 of the third quarter. Crockett gave the Orange a 4-3 lead with a tough-angle shot just 41 seconds later. Wagner answered for Army off a pass from Scheel at the 7:09 mark. The goal, Wagner's team-high second of the game, would be the last goal of the night for the Black Knights. The Syracuse defense clamped down during the game's next 22:51 and the offense went on a 5-0 run to close out the contest.
Crockett netted three goals during the spurt, Bucktooth had two assists, while Leveille and sophomore midfielder Steven Brooks (Libertyville, Ill.) each chipped in with second-half goals.
The Orange received a strong performance out of sophomore face-off specialist Danny Brennan (Farmingdale, N.Y.), who took all 17 draws in the game and won 14 of them. The 14-3 advantage at the face-off stripe was one of the biggest keys to victory for the Orange.
Syracuse will play at home again next Saturday, March 5, against No. 8-ranked Virginia (1-0) beginning at 3 p.m. Before the game, the Orange will raise the 2004 National Championship banner to the rafters of the Carrier Dome.
