An inauspicious start to the fourth quarter for Syracuse Wednesday night was a precursor of things to come.
Playing in the Carrier Dome, No. 16 Army trailed by a goal at the onset of the final stanza. The initial possession began with three shots — all wide — and a fourth shot saved by Harrison Thompson. Three seconds later, Thompson turned it over.
Danny Kielbasa found the ground ball and immediately scored — tying the score at 13. It would be several minutes until anyone scored again, but that unforced error set the tone. Army got the go-ahead goal from Bobby Abshire with 8:22 left in the contest, as the Black Knights topped No. 14 Syracuse 17-13.
Abshire added two more goals in a row to push the lead to 16-13. Will Coletti scored his first of the year for the final 17-13 margin.
It was a back-and-forth contest in which Syracuse thoroughly dominated the second quarter. The Orange held a 7-2 margin in the period and went into the half leading 10-7. Scoring in a relatively even third quarter ended when Abshire tallied his sixth goal of the season with 45 seconds left in the period — the first strike in a game-ending 6-0 run.
Led by Jakob Phaup (22-for-33), Syracuse held a 22-11 advantage on draws and a 38-27 advantage on ground balls. But Army capitalized on second chances and owned a shot advantage of 50-39. Army also went 2-for-3 on extra man opportunities, whereas Syracuse went 0-for-2.
Army improves to 4-1 ahead of the beginning of Patriot League play on Sunday against Holy Cross. Syracuse is scuffling at 1-3 with a sneaky good team in Hobart coming to the Dome on Sunday.
ALBANY NABS FIRST WIN
Amos Whitcomb had two goals and three assists and Keelan Seneca had one goal and three assists as Albany (1-2) topped Siena 11-7. Pratt Reynolds scored three times for Siena (1-4), which trailed 3-0 after the first quarter and 6-3 at halftime.
A 3-0 run with two goals from Reynolds and one from Nick Pepe cut the deficit to 8-6 at the end of the third quarter, but Albany thoroughly dominated the final period.
TOWSON PUSHES LOYOLA TO 0-4
It has not been a start to the season to remember for Loyola, a team hyped in the preseason for its collection of veteran talent.
Towson (2-3) got three goals and one assist from Luke Shilling, two goals and two assists from James Avanzato and three goals from Kyle Berkeley in the 11-8 defeat of Loyola (0-4).
Kevin Lindley scored once for the Greyhounds and became the Patriot League’s all-time leading goal scorer.
Kevin Lindley is the @PatriotLeague’s all-time leading scorer.
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 2, 2022
What a sequence to lead to this historic goal. pic.twitter.com/y3hyCzXZXT
Towson trailed 6-5 near the end of the second quarter, but Berkeley equalized the score before the break. The Tigers set the tone in the second half by scoring the first three goals of the third quarter — one apiece from Nick DeMaio, Austin Stewart and Berkeley — for a 9-6 advantage they wouldn’t relinquish.
HOW THE NIKE/USAL TOP 20 FARED
No. 16 Army defeated No. 14 Syracuse 17-13
Towson defeated No. 20 Loyola 11-8
FULL SCOREBOARD
Albany 11, Siena 7
No. 16 Army 17, No. 14 Syracuse 13
Towson 20, No. 20 Loyola 8