For more than 40 minutes Hobart went toe-to-toe with rival Syracuse, but the Orange cashed in on too many Hobart mistakes and flexed its own offensive muscle in a 21-13 victory in the final game played at the Carrier Dome this season. The facility, which opened in 1981, will undergo renovations starting on Monday.
Hobart fell behind 3-0 out of the gates and never led, but kept the Orange within reach for much of the game.
Jack Groom’s goal with 4:26 left in the third quarter pulled the Statesmen to within 12-11, but No. 4 Syracuse (4-0) scored three times in the final four-plus minutes of the quarter, including this spin move by Tucker Dordevic, to take control.
Have a night Tucker Dordevic! with & as @CuseMLAX pulls away from rival Hobart for a 21-13 win in the final lacrosse game played at the Carrier Dome before renovations start next week. pic.twitter.com/WunnInGtiU
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 29, 2020
Dordevic, a promising sophomore midfielder who missed all of last season with an injury, had by far his biggest game in his comeback season. Dordevic had five goals and two assists to lead the Orange and had plenty of help from Brendan Curry with five goals and Chase Scanlan with four as Syracuse matched its season-high of 21 goals.
Hobart (3-1) came into the game with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense (23.0 goals/game) and showed plenty of firepower, but also committed 22 turnovers in the game.
Eric Holden led Hobart with three goals and two assists and Sam Lucchesi made 16 saves.
Red-Hot Williams Keys Duke Comeback
A see-saw affair between No. 11 Duke and Richmond ended with the Blue Devils on top. Sean Lowrie’s shot over traffic gave Duke a 16-15 victory over the Spiders on Friday evening.
Richmond led 8-4 midway through the second quarter before Dyson Williams took over for Duke (3-2). The freshman from Canada, son of longtime NLL star Shawn Williams, scored four goals in the final 4:28 of the first half, including one just before the buzzer to tie the game at 8.
Williams made it five straight, opening the second half with a quick strike, to put the Blue Devils in front and Duke used a three-goal run to close the third quarter to take a 14-10 lead.
Richmond (2-3) surged late, scoring three goals in a span of just 37 seconds to tie the game at 14 on Tyler Shouts’ goal with 3:41 to play. Duke’s Garrett Leadmon and Richmond’s Ryan Lanchbury traded goals to set the stage for overtime.
Duke’s Jordan Ginder won the faceoff to start overtime and Duke called a timeout. After Owen Caputo’s shot went wide, Cameron Badour found Lowrie cutting to the middle with the shot clock winding down. Lowrie went right-handed over the defense for just his third goal of the season.
See-saw game goes the way of @DukeMLAX. Blue Devils down Richmond 16-15 in OT as Sean Lowrie shoots over traffic for the winner.
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 29, 2020
Game two of @accnetwork doubleheader features @CuseMLAX and @HobartLacrosse playing for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy. pic.twitter.com/7a83ycmh5l
Williams had seven goals to lead Duke. Caputo added a hat trick and JP Basile had a goal and four assists. Andrew Bonafede replaced Duke starter Turner Uppgren in goal and made only three saves while allowing eight goals, but two of them came back-to-back late in regulation to keep the game tied.
Shoults paced the Richmond offense with three goals and three assists and Adrian Nash also had a hat trick.
It was the second overtime loss of the season for Richmond. The Spiders lost their season opener, 14-13, to Maryland in double overtime on Feb. 8.