Offense Answers Questions in Opener
2/9/2020 3:47:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
There are always questions heading into a new season. For the offense on the Syraucse men's lacrosse team looking to replace their two leading goal scorers from a year ago, that was to be expected.
How would the attack look with two new starters? What about the midfield with Tucker Dordevic back in the mix? How about the new look second line? … And of course how would the new No. 22 handle the spotlight in his first game wearing the sport's historic number.
While it's just one game and there's still a tremendous gauntlet of tests that lie ahead in 2020, but 'Cuse passed its first exam of the year in a 21-14 victory over Colgate on Friday night.
The offense posted historic numbers on Friday night, with a familiar face facilitating the action and a new face filling up the net.
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Sophomore transfer Chase Scanlan scored the most goals ever in a Syracuse debut with seven. His tally was the most goals by a Syracuse player since Dylan Donahue scored seven times against Notre Dame in 2015. Aside from Donahue – who did so twice – no other Syracuse player had tallied seven-or-more goals since the turn of this century. Prior to that, Matt Cutia scored seven times against Rutgers in 1999 as the next most recent occurance.
"I guess no one is going to question why we gave him the number," head coach John Desko said with a laugh in the postgame press conference.
In total 17 players have now accomplished the feat 28 times – 12 of which happened prior to the Orange's first national title. Doing it with the added scrutiny that comes with wearing the sport's most legendary number added to the magic of the debut.
"It was a dream come true to play well and get the win," Scanlan said. "I'm thankful for my teammates to allow me to play, and the brotherhood that we have here. It's amazing."
While Scanlan's goals total will garner most of the attention, in part because it was about as good as a debut as the transfer could have asked for, especially in the famed No. 22 – it was Stephen Rehfuss who accomplished an even more rare feat.
Rehfuss posted a career high eight points and seven assists. His assists tally made him just the 10th player in the program's history to register seven-or-more helpers and second since 2000 (Kevin Rice in 2014 vs. Siena being the other).
"I think we've definitely been developing our chemistry since the fall, and now into the spring," Rehfuss said. "We were honestly just working well as an offense, a six-on-six unit. We were just running what Coach March is telling us to do."
In addition to the historic performances by Scanlan and Rehfuss, other Orange stepped up. Jamie Trimboli – a reliable scorer from the first midfield – started the season off by tying his career high with four goals. Lucas Quinn continued his strong start to the spring with his first collegiate hat trick.
All in all it was a remarkable first performance for the Orange, tying for the most goals in a game since the 2009 season opener.
Syracuse is back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. when they play host to Binghamton.
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How would the attack look with two new starters? What about the midfield with Tucker Dordevic back in the mix? How about the new look second line? … And of course how would the new No. 22 handle the spotlight in his first game wearing the sport's historic number.
While it's just one game and there's still a tremendous gauntlet of tests that lie ahead in 2020, but 'Cuse passed its first exam of the year in a 21-14 victory over Colgate on Friday night.
The offense posted historic numbers on Friday night, with a familiar face facilitating the action and a new face filling up the net.
Â
Sophomore transfer Chase Scanlan scored the most goals ever in a Syracuse debut with seven. His tally was the most goals by a Syracuse player since Dylan Donahue scored seven times against Notre Dame in 2015. Aside from Donahue – who did so twice – no other Syracuse player had tallied seven-or-more goals since the turn of this century. Prior to that, Matt Cutia scored seven times against Rutgers in 1999 as the next most recent occurance.
"I guess no one is going to question why we gave him the number," head coach John Desko said with a laugh in the postgame press conference.
In total 17 players have now accomplished the feat 28 times – 12 of which happened prior to the Orange's first national title. Doing it with the added scrutiny that comes with wearing the sport's most legendary number added to the magic of the debut.
"It was a dream come true to play well and get the win," Scanlan said. "I'm thankful for my teammates to allow me to play, and the brotherhood that we have here. It's amazing."
While Scanlan's goals total will garner most of the attention, in part because it was about as good as a debut as the transfer could have asked for, especially in the famed No. 22 – it was Stephen Rehfuss who accomplished an even more rare feat.
Rehfuss posted a career high eight points and seven assists. His assists tally made him just the 10th player in the program's history to register seven-or-more helpers and second since 2000 (Kevin Rice in 2014 vs. Siena being the other).
"I think we've definitely been developing our chemistry since the fall, and now into the spring," Rehfuss said. "We were honestly just working well as an offense, a six-on-six unit. We were just running what Coach March is telling us to do."
In addition to the historic performances by Scanlan and Rehfuss, other Orange stepped up. Jamie Trimboli – a reliable scorer from the first midfield – started the season off by tying his career high with four goals. Lucas Quinn continued his strong start to the spring with his first collegiate hat trick.
All in all it was a remarkable first performance for the Orange, tying for the most goals in a game since the 2009 season opener.
Syracuse is back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. when they play host to Binghamton.
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Players Mentioned
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