Orange Battle Past Army 9-8

Sunday, February 28

Syracuse, NY

4 p.m.

Syracuse University

3-0

Army West Point

2-2

Army

Syracuse

2/28/2016 7:20:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Barber's goal lifts the Orange to victory

It was the toughest test yet for the No. 4 Syracuse men's lacrosse team, who defeated Army West Point 9-8 on Sunday.

The Black Knights used a late rally to knot the game at eight in the closing minutes, but senior Tim Barber buried the eventual game-winning goal with 3:27 remaining and the Orange defense stood tough late to grind out the win over Army.

Warren Hill made a career-high 10 saves on the afternoon, none bigger than when he got just enough on a Cadets' shot with five seconds to go to deflect it off the post and maintain the one goal lead.

"Well, I think the game went almost as expected," said head coach John Desko. "We knew that Army was going to come in and play for 60 minutes. I thought that both teams did a good job in the first half feeling out one another. We were impressed with their defense, and their goalie made some big saves. For a freshman to walk into the Carrier Dome and play is not easy, so I thought he was really up to the task. We knew they were going to keep playing in the second half. We got maybe a little comfortable when we went up four goals in the third period.

"As expected, Army crawled back into the game, tying it up and turning it into a game that could've gone either way. Fortunately we came out with a faceoff and a few possessions. That last one at the end was huge for us. I think both teams know what they have to work on coming out of a game like this, but it was a great win for Syracuse today. It could've gone the other way but to get out of here at 3-0 is a good thing for us today."

After a two-minute defensive stand to start the game, Army struck first against the Orange, which would be the first time 'Cuse would trail on the 2016 season thus far. Picking up a ground ball and curling around the goal, Cole Johnson fired low past Hill to put Army up 1-0 just 3:35 into the game..

Just over a minute later, Derek DeJoe evened the score for Syracuse, isolating his defender on the right side of the field and burying a shot to the top-left corner of the cage, past Army freshman goalkeeper A.J. Barretto, who'd go on to make 11 saves on the afternoon.

Maintaining possession and working a number of shots, Army was eventually able to draw a 30-second man-up penalty on Cuse's Brandon Mullins. With little time left in the extra-man opportunity, Connor Cook took advantage for the Black Knights, putting them up 2-1 with 5:39 to go in the first.

Extending the lead just over a minute later, Tim Coll scored for Army on an assist from Dalton MacAfee, catching the ball on the right side of the field before spinning to the middle and sneaking one past Hill.

That's when the Orange began a 6-0 run.

Dylan Donahue broke the Orange's scoring drought, taking the ball around the back of goal and shooting a low shot by Barretto to close out the first quarter scoring with Army owning a 3-2 advantage.

Nick Mariano got on the board to tie the score at three with 10:52 remaining in the second quarter. Taking his defender down the right side of the field, Mariano finished with a left-handed goal just before reaching the crease, marking his third-straight game with a goal.

DeJoe added his second goal of the day 1:01 later, catching a pass from Matt Lane and cutting towards the crease before putting the Orange up for the first time in the game with another perfectly-placed blast to the corner of the net.

Finding a rhythm, Syracuse extended its lead to 5-3 with its third goal in just over two minutes, as an Army turnover left an open net for Sergio Salcido to fire a fast-break shot into.

The remaining 8:48 of the half resulted in a defensive standoff, as scoreless stretches from both sides allowed Syracuse to enter the locker-room with a 5-3 halftime lead.

Coming out of the half, the Orange extended their lead to four in just 51 seconds of action. Less than 30 seconds after a Ben Williams faceoff win, Salcido scored his second of the day, unassisted from the right side of the field.

A failed clear attempt by Army on the following possession led to another quick Orange goal. Picking up a ground ball, Donahue found Nate Solomon in front of the cage to put the Orange up 7-3 with 14:09 to play in the third quarter.

Unwilling to let Syracuse run away with the game, Army got back on the board, scoring a man-up goal following a 30-second interference penalty by Mariano. Catching a feed from Johnson in the middle of the field, Jimbo Moore fired down an open lane to beat Hill.

After trading possessions, Army cut the lead to two, as Conor Glancy snuck onto the crease and bounced a shot into the bottom right corner of the net with 10:15 to go in the third quarter.

Nearly two minutes later, Army extended their scoring run to three, with Ted Glesener catching a pass from John Ragno on the left side of the field and scoring to pull the Black Knights within one of the Orange.

Almost eight minutes later, Syracuse broke the Army run. Fighting for a ground ball in the middle of the field, Austin Fusco laid a hit on an Army midfielder, allowing Salcido to scoop the ball up and find a streaking Jordan Evans downfield for a fast-break goal. The goal put the Orange up 8-6 to end the third.

The defensive battle continued as both teams failed find the back of the net for the first 6:13 of the fourth quarter. The standoff saw a breakthrough when, on an extra-man opportunity, Cook narrowed the gap to one for Army, scoring off a pass from Nick Santorelli.

For the first time since the first quarter, the game became knotted up, as Nate Jones cut down the middle of the field, receiving a pass from Shea Mullins on the crease, and tying the game up for Army with 4:38 to play.

Tim Barber put the Orange back in front with his first goal of the day. With 3:27 left, Barber wrapped around the right side of the cage before shooting a ball high to make the score 9-8, Syracuse.

The Orange won't have much time to enjoy the win, however as 'Cuse takes on Virginia at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in what'll serve as both the first road and ACC contests of the season.

GAME NOTES: Warren Hill's 10 saves are a career-high, besting his five-save previous high, which was set against Albany last week … Dylan Donahue's goal extended his nation's leading point-streak to 42 games. He also holds the nation's second-longest goal scoring streak at 28 games … Syracuse has now won 33-straight games in which it holds its opponent to under-10 goals in a game … Brandon Mullins' three caused turnovers moved him to 51 in his career. He's one of just-four players to reach the 50-caused turnover plateau in program history, joining Brian Megill (103), Matt Harris (68) and Joel White (61) … Sergio Salcido's two goals marked just the second multi-goal game of his career, after scoring twice against Siena in the season opener.