Syracuse University
Georgetown
Keogh's OT Goal Lifts Orange To 9-8 Win Versus Georgetown
3/12/2011 2:40:37 PM | Men's Lacrosse
| Score By Period | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final |
| Syracuse | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| Georgetown | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Box Score | Highlights | Press Conference March 12, 2011 | M&T Bank Stadium / Baltimore, Md. | Att: 17,057 |
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BALTIMORE – Senior Stephen Keogh scored with 2:19 left to play in overtime to lift No. 1 Syracuse (4-0, 1-0) to a 9-8 victory over Georgetown (2-3, 1-1) in the opening game of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium. The goal was Keogh's fourth of the day. He also contributed an assist to finish with five points on his way to player of the game honors.
“We just kind of worked the ball around," Keogh said of the winning play. "Coach (Desko) has been talking about patience all year. In the huddle that's what he was talking about. We moved the ball quickly and they kind of slid to Jovan (Miller) and I had the open the shot. Luckily, it went in.”
Keogh's game-winner ended what was a hard-fought, physical contest throughout. The game featured 10 combined penalties and several hard hits. Syracuse never trailed the Hoyas, but never led by more than two the entire game. The Orange had leads of 2-0, 4-2, 5-3, 6-4 and 8-6 before finally emerging with a one-goal victory.
For Keogh, it was the second time in two years he's won a game for Syracuse in overtime. He tallied the OT winner at Hobart back on March 23, 2010 to secure a 9-8 triumph over the Statesmen.
On Saturday, Keogh's OT heroics were necessary after a late Georgetown charge to force extra time. Down 8-6, Davey Emala's fifth goal of the game brought the Hoyas within one with 2:19 to go. Then, with Miller attempting to waste the game's final 45 seconds following an SU timeout, Georgetown's Barney Ehrmann jarred the ball free. It was picked up by Chris Nourse and resulted in a transition goal by Gerry Reilly with five seconds left to send the game to overtime.
After Reilly's goal, the Georgetown bench exploded. The Hoyas clearly had the momentum, but the score proved to be the last time they touched the ball. Rookie Chris Daddio won the faceoff in overtime, and after a timeout, Syracuse probed the Georgetown zone until Keogh beat Hoyas' keeper Jack Davis from 10 yards out for the winner.
Senior goalie John Galloway made a season-high 13 saves, including six in the third quarter, to anchor a Syracuse defense that held Georgetown to almost five goals below its season average (12.75 gpg). It was another standout performance for the West Genesee High School product, who earned his 48th career victory Saturday to become the Orange's all-time winningest goaltender. Galloway surpassed Jay's Pfeifer's previous school record of 47 career victories and moved into sole possession of third place on the NCAA Division I career wins list. Galloway's all-time record stands at 48-6 in 54 starts.
“Looking back it's going to be just another reminder of the great experience I've had at Syracuse," Galloway said of the record. "But right now we're looking at a good Albany team coming in (on Tuesday). That's the most important thing."
“I think it's an exciting stat,” Desko said. “And, like what he (Galloway) said, I think he'll enjoy it more as time goes on. It'll be something for him to kick back someday and look at and take a lot of pride in. It's the result of a lot of hard work.”
Offensively, senior Jeremy Thompson contributed three points for Syracuse, including tying his career high for the second straight game with two assists. Besides Keogh, sophomore JoJo Marasco was the only other Syracuse player to record multiple goals. He finished with two in his Face-Off Classic debut.
Emala was Georgetown's main offensive weapon. His five goals were a game-high and matched his personal best. No other Hoya scored more than once. Davis finished the game with 10 saves in the cage. Brian Tabb took every faceoff for Georgetown and was 11-for-20 at the X.
Georgetown dominated possession time in the first quarter with Tabb winning four of the period's five faceoffs. However, the Orange made the most of its few opportunities, getting goals from Miller and Marasco to take an early 2-0 lead. Georgetown responded with a pair of Emala goals, including a man-up tally at the 2:39 mark, to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the second quarter.
Following Emala's extra-man goal, the Orange defense held Georgetown scoreless for the next 20:53, but only scored twice during that time. A goal by Rickey Mirabito ended the Hoyas' scoring drought and made the score 4-3 with 11:46 remaining in the third quarter. For the remainder of the contest, every Syracuse goal was answered by the Hoyas until Keogh sealed the deal in overtime.
One of the main reasons the Orange was able to keep the Hoyas at bay was the play of its man-down unit. Syracuse successfully killed off four of Georgetown's six extra-man opportunities to help negate a 41-27 Hoyas' advantage in ground balls and a 31-29 Georgetown advantage in shots for the game.
Syracuse returns home for its first mid-week game of the season on Tuesday, March 15. The Orange will host Albany at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised live throughout New York State on Time Warner Sports and SNY.
Game Notes: The Orange's 4-0 start is the team's best since 2002 when it also began the year 4-0 … The victory was Syracuse's first in three appearances in the Face-Off Classic and it improved the Orange's record to 7-0 all-time in BIG EAST Conference games ... Keogh has 14 goals in four career games against Georgetown ... Attendance for the tripleheader, which also featured Cornell-Virginia and Johns Hopkins-UMBC, was 17,057.
