Syracuse University
Rutgers
Future League Rivals Face Off Saturday
4/10/2009 9:22:54 AM | Men's Lacrosse, Otto's Kids Club
Buy Tickets | Watch/Listen Live | Live Stats | Game Notes
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - No. 5 Syracuse (8-2) plays its third game in eight days when it hosts current ECAC and future BIG EAST rival Rutgers (4-7) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 11 at the Carrier Dome. The game is the second part of a men's and women's lacrosse doubleheader. The SU women will host Notre Dame at 12 p.m. prior to the SU-Rutgers men's tilt.
Tickets are available online at SUathletics.com, over the phone (1-888-DOMETIX), or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office during normal business hours. Fans will be able to receive their tickets right after purchase by using the "Ticketfast" delivery method. 'Cuse Kids Club members get in free with their membership card.
Saturday's game will air live locally on Time Warner Sports 26 in Syracuse. Fans can listen to the action via the Syracuse ISP Sports Network's flagship station TK 99 (99.5 FM). The audio and video streams of the broadcast are available world-wide on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All Access.
REBOUNDING ISN'T JUST FOR BASKETBALL
Syracuse bounced back from its loss to Princeton at the Big City Classic with a victory against Cornell Tuesday. With the victory, SU improved to 2-0 in games immediately following losses this season. Overall, Syracuse has won its last four games directly after a loss. The Orange hasn't lost consecutive games since the end of the 2007 campaign.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Syracuse and Rutgers have played at least once every season since 1979. The Orange owns a dominating 36-8 lead in the series thanks in large part to a 20-game series winning streak from 1956 to 1995. Overall, the Orange is 21-2 in games played in Syracuse, and the Orange is 14-1 all-time against the Scarlet Knights at the Carrier Dome. The only time Rutgers defeated Syracuse in the Dome was in 2003 by the score of 12-11 in overtime.
DESKO VERSUS RUTGERS
Orange head coach John Desko is 8-2 against Rutgers since taking the SU coaching reigns in 1999. SU has scored at least 10 goals in every game he has coached against the Scarlet Knights and topped the 20-goal mark twice (1999, 2007).
SOME FAMILIAR FACES
Several names on the Rutgers roster will be familiar fo followers of the SU program. Collin Donahue, son of Orange volunteer assistant coach Kevin Donahue, is a sophomore attackman for the Scarlet Knights and played scholastically at West Genesee. Rutgers also features midfielders Jeff and Tim Rommel. The Rommels are the younger brothers of former SU standout Greg Rommel and they starred at Henninger High School.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights stumbled out of the gate, losing five of their first six games this season. More recently, they have won two of their last three to get to 4-7 overall and 2-2 in ECAC action. Attackman Kory Kelly, last year's ECAC co-Rookie of the Year, leads the Scarlet Knights with 24 goals and 25 points. Junior Justin Pennington is the leader of the Rutgers midfield and has 22 points, including a team-best 13 assists. Like Syracuse, the Scarlet Knights use a variety of players at the faceoff X. Pennington (42-71, .592) and sophomore Chris Mattes (69-115, .600) have proven to be the most successful and have helped the team to a .613 faceoff winning percentage, which ranks second nationally. Junior Billy Olin has garnered most of the playing time in goal. He has 77 saves and an 8.74 goals-against average. Senior Peter Pantages (25 svs, 8.98 GAA) has made three starts in the cage.
LAST TIME OUT: SYRACUSE VS. CORNELL - APRIL 7, 2009
SU got back in the win column on Tuesday, April 7 with a 15-10 victory against No. 3 Cornell at the Carrier Dome. The Orange withstood a late rally by the Big Red, scoring the game's final three goals to secure the victory. Senior attackman Kenny Nims paced the SU offense with a game-high six points (2g, 4a). Sophomore attackman Stephen Keogh and junior attackman Chris Daniello both had hat tricks in the win. All three of Keogh's tallies were assisted by Nims. The Cornell offense, which came into the game averaging 13.75 goals per contest, was held in check for most of the night. Sophomore Joel White was tasked with marking Cornell's Max Seibald, a two-time first-team All-American. White limited him to one goal and one assist, while collecting four ground balls.
UP NEXT
Syracuse plays its final night game of the 2009 regular season when it hosts Albany at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 17 at the Carrier Dome.
