#8 Syracuse Unable to Overcome Strong Offensive Performance By #3 Johns Hopkins

Saturday, March 17

Syracuse, NY

3:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

#3 Johns Hopkins

Captains Greg Rommel (#9) and Mike Leveille had five of Syracuse's seven assists

#8 Syracuse Unable to Overcome Strong Offensive Performance By #3 Johns Hopkins

3/17/2007 7:21:05 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – #3 Johns Hopkins (4-1) scored at least five goals in the first three periods to beat #8 Syracuse (2-3), 17-9, in a St. Patrick’s Day showdown at the Carrier Dome. The Blue Jays reeled off eight unanswered goals in the first and second periods, and then scored six straight in the second and third to take command of the game.

Junior midfielder Steven Brooks led the Orange offense again with three goals and an assist. Sophomore attackman Kenny Nims was the only other Syracuse player with multiple goals, scoring twice. Junior attackman Mike Leveille also had four points with a goal and a game-high three assists. Graduate student midfielder Greg Rommel added a goal and two assists for the Orange. Senior midfielders Danny Brennan and Jon Jerome each won eight faceoffs.

Sophomore goalie Peter Coluccini got the start in the cage, but after allowing 11 goals and making six saves in the first half, he was spelled by senior Casey Rotella in the second half. Rotella, who appeared in his second game with Syracuse, made a career-best six saves in 30 minutes.

“(Hopkins) was really able to control the tempo and control the crowd, especially early on,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said in his post-game press conference. “We needed to come out and have a great start to the third period, and it went the other way around. They were able to score the first few goals. To put that kind of a margin between these two teams with 25 minutes to go in the game was just too much for us to overcome.”

Syracuse took the first lead of the game when sophomore attack Dan Hardy scored off a pass from Leveille two minutes into play. Hopkins tied the score with a goal 90 secondss later, but the Orange went back on top when Leveille scored off a feed from Rommel on the ensuing faceoff. From that point, the Blue Jays went on their 8-0 run. They had eight different players score over the next 15 minutes to take a commanding 9-2 lead.

The Orange scored three of the next four goals in the game, two by Nims and one by Brooks, to pull within five. Nims’s last goal came with 13 seconds remaining in the second period. On the faceoff, Hopkins midfielder Paul Rabil picked up the ground ball and raced down the field. He fed Jake Byrne who fired a shot into the net just as the horn sounded. After a quick conference, the referees said the goal was good and Hopkins had an 11-5 halftime lead.

The Blue Jays kept that momentum, scoring five goals in just over six minutes to start the third period. In this run, five different players scored. Rommel scored the final goal of the third period at the 8:09 mark. The Orange did score three of the four fourth quarter goals, two by Brooks and one by junior midfielder Brendan Loftus, but they were too far apart to mount a comeback. Loftus’s final tally came with 16 seconds remaining.

Rabil paced Hopkins with six points on three goals and three assists. Attack Steven Boyle netted four goals for the Blue Jays. They were two of five Hopkins players who had multiple goals. Goalie Jesse Schwartzman made 17 saves.

Syracuse host in-state rival Binghamton on Saturday, March 24, at 2 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.