SYRACUSE, N.Y. — If someone told Army head coach Joe Alberici before Sunday afternoon’s game that his team would hold Syracuse to just nine goals and that none would be scored by the Orange’s star-studded attack, he would have assumed his team would have “probably” won.
The Black Knights did indeed stifle the Orange offense, holding Chase Scanlan without a goal and holding the Orange as a whole to just two goals in the first half. The second half, though, was a different story.
Two career highs, a new offensive approach and a second half defensive showcase — much like No. 7 Army’s first half performance — propelled No. 6 Syracuse (3-0) to its first ranked win of the season, a 9-7 triumph at the Carrier Dome.
At times, it looked like everything was going right for Syracuse, but the results weren’t showing up on the scoreboard. It just took time for strong goalie and faceoff play to pay off.
“We really had to work hard to win this game,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “That only helps us going forward.”
The 5-2 halftime score was jarring for Syracuse for multiple reasons. Facing an influx of shots, Drake Porter almost had double-digit saves in the first quarter alone. Faceoff specialist Jakob Phaup hadn’t given up the ball from the X all first half (Army started the second quarter with the ball, its only recorded faceoff victory of the half). On paper, all of that didn’t add up to facing a deficit. On the field, it did.
Desko and his team had a plan. Army’s defense had dominated, but Syracuse finished the first half with more shots (18-17). He thought maybe his team should shoot top shelf and not just look for one-hoppers down low. Also, Syracuse’s offense didn’t necessarily have to come from the attack, although its combination of Scanlan, Griffin Cook and Stephen Rehfuss was relied on heavily its first two games (14 combined goals).
“Teams are gonna press out, and we gotta take advantage of that,” senior midfielder Jamie Trimboli said. “Today was our day up top, our attack have plenty of days down low.”
Players knew what was coming from Army’s attack. Slides would come late, or maybe not at all, and they’d be forced to play “on an island,” as Trimboli said. Syracuse just wasn’t used to that type of defense.
“We have a lot of belief of who we are in our man [defense],” Alberici said.
Coming out of the break trailing by three goals, Phaup — like he had done all first half — bullied Army’s Stevie Grabher for the faceoff. The ball quickly shuffled around to midfielder Brendan Curry, who got it out to Trimboli for his second goal of the game. Two possessions later, the same combination led to another score. Then came a third straight goal came from the stick of Trimboli, who finished with a career-high five goals.
When the ball came back to Army off missed shots and turnovers, Porter did what he had all game. He recorded 18 saves, eclipsing his previous career-high of 16, which came against Army in 2019. It’s the most saves from a Syracuse goalie since John Galloway 10 years ago.
“When a goalie is playing like that, it makes players on the offensive team think about their shots,” Desko said.
Tied at 5 late in the third quarter, Army scored twice, one to end the third and one to start the fourth. Alberici described his team’s possessions in the second half as “sparse.”
Down 7-5, Syracuse went back to Desko’s halftime switches. Tucker Dordevic maneuvered space off a question mark dodge behind the net and ripped the ball top shelf. Less than a minute later, David Lipka scored an almost identical goal that hit nylon up high, tying the score at 7.
The midfielders wouldn’t stop. Trimboli sliced through the middle for his fifth of the day, giving Syracuse the lead at 8-7 with 5:46 remaining. Curry then made it four unanswered goals, putting Syracuse ahead 9-7 with 4:55 to play. Similar to Syracuse in the first half, Army’s offense was flat in the final 30 minutes.
“In the second half, we realized they weren’t going to come to us,” Trimboli said. “It was up to us to beat our guy one-on-one."
Syracuse isn’t new to game-saving fourth quarter explosions like Sunday’s, which featured 18 Orange shots in the period. Sunday might provide a blueprint for the Orange, showing Desko and his team that they can not only improve on the fly, but also that they don’t just need their attack to do all the scoring.
“Fortunately, we came out and had those goals early in the third quarter,” Desko said. “I think they all starting believing again.”