Late Run Powers Army Past 'Cuse

Wednesday, March 2

Syracuse, N.Y.

4:30 PM

Syracuse University

1-3

Army West Point

4-1

Army

Syracuse

3/2/2022 7:59:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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Black Knights out-score 'Cuse 10-3 after halftime.

The Syracuse men's lacrosse team (1-3) dropped its third-straight contest to a top-15 team on Wednesday, as No. 13 Army (4-1) scored the game's final six goals to win 17-13.

The Orange once again fell behind early, trailing 5-1 through 12 minutes of action, but 'Cuse clawed back to eventually lead by as many as three before halftime. But in addition to scoring the final-six goals, the Cadets out-scored Syracuse 10-3 after intermission to win.

Captains Brendan Curry and Owen Seebold each notched four goals, while Tucker Dordevic (1-2) also was a major factor in the offense. Jakob Phaup was again strong at the X, winning 22-of-33 faceoffs, picking up 10 ground balls and even scoring his first-career goal and adding an assist on offense.

The defense was led by Harrison Thompson, who made nine saves in a little more than 45 minutes of action in relief. Still, it wasn't enough to slow down the Black Knights, led by All-American Brendan Nichtern, who notched six points (4-2) and Bobby Abshire (4-1) added five. Wyatt Schupler made 13 saves in cage for Army.

"That was a tough game and I have to give Army the credit for coming in here and taking it to us from the opening whistle," said head coach Gary Gait. "They played hard, battled and made fewer mistakes than us. In the end, we didn't counter, we didn't make those same plays and that's on us. As coaches we have to find ways to give players ways to have success. Unfortunately, we've been struggling in the first and fourth quarters to get these players to have those opportunities.

"We're going to meet, discuss and talk and figure something out. But we have to find ways to instill confidence in these guys. I think you've seen in every game that they have the ability to play with anyone, but you have to put together 60 minutes and we haven't done that yet."

After Curry notched the game's first goal less than 90 seconds into action, Army immediately rallied with a 5-0 run. Much of that was led by Nichtern, who scored three goals in the first nine minutes of the game.

'Cuse then played its best lacrosse of the day with a 6-0 run of their own. Saam Olexo started it off with his first collegiate goal in transition, while Matteo Corsi and Phaup each added goals in the stretch to balance scoring from Seebold and Curry. Syracuse would take a 10-7 lead to the locker room.

The second half saw a defensive change from the Black Knights, moving to a zone defense, which created offensive issues for the Orange. Syracuse had 19 turnovers in the contest, including seven in the fourth quarter. SU was also just 5-of-8 on clears in the final frame.

The teams traded goals through much of the third, with 'Cuse owning a 13-12 lead at the end of the period. Seebold, Griffin Cook and Curry were the scorers in the session.

The fourth quarter was all Army, spoiling Syracuse's lead and cruising down the stretch to the final result.

The Orange are back in action on Sunday at 4 p.m. vs. their oldest rival Hobart for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy.