Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Kat Kienle The Greyhound offense couldn't hit their shooting stride while Syracuse converted 13 of their 56 shots in Saturday's game.

Media Credit: Kat Kienle Despite holding the Orange scoreless in the first quater and getting on the board first, the Greyhounds couldn't uphold their lead past the second.

By Dave Lomonico
Sports Editor


Syracuse shoots… and then they shoot some more. They shoot so much, the Orange leave the average lacrosse fan wondering whether they even bother with a defense. Sometimes that is a problem for the Orange, but there's a reason this team has lost just once (to No.3 Virginia in overtime) and is ranked No. 2 in the country - and that's their ability to put the ball in the net. The Orange do it better than anyone else, averaging over 13 goals and 45 shots a game (compared to only 55 goals and 29 shots for their opponents) coming into Saturday afternoon's game against Loyola at the Carrier Dome.

"We've had a lot of shots," Syracuse's Mike Leveille said. "We just try to hang in there and keep shooting and keep running our offense, and eventually they're going to fall for us."

"Hanging in there" is usually how the Orange play defense, and the Hounds certainly found the holes in the leaky backfield, but they just didn't have the ball enough, or the defensive wherewithal, to keep the relentless Syracuse attack at bay.

Loyola actually held a 2-0 lead after the first quarter, but 56 Syracuse shots and 13 goals later, the Orange triumphed and the Hounds' roller-coaster season hit a valley after reaching a peak two weeks ago against UMass.

Loyola, thinking upset throughout the first half, suffered through a disastrous third quarter and a maddeningly inconsistent fourth quarter as the Orange (7-1) staved off the pesky Greyhounds (4-4) before slamming the hammer late in the game, 13-8.

As he's done all season, freshman Cooper MacDonnell led the way on offense, tallying four goals, three of them coming in the first half as Loyola built a slight 4-3 lead midway through the second frame. The Orange took a 5-4 lead into the locker room, but junior Jake Wilcox picked up a groundball and bulled his way through a leaky Syracuse defense to tie the game at five.

"Loyola did a good job with their personnel and keeping the ball at the offensive end [early]," Syracuse coach John Desko said. "The way they ran their offense, they were just being patient, guys were dodging, and they were very effective as far as controlling the tempo."

Then the Orange delivered the crush. Loyola's defense, tested all game long, started to lag as their slides came late, leaving freshman goalie Jake Hagelin exposed. Syracuse's Jovan Miller started the run with a goal off a feed from Mike Leveille, Greg Newieroski scored a minute later and the capper came on a man-up opportunity completed by Dan Hardy. It was a quick death, taking a little more than a minute to go up 8-5.

But the Orange weren't done. After winning the face-off, Hagelin weathered a barrage of Syracuse shots, but he looked more like the last man standing on a battlefield, waiting for the enemy to deliver the inevitable blow. It came at the 4:52 mark, putting Syracuse up 9-5.

Freshman Matt Langan gave Loyola a glimmer of hope heading into the final frame, finding the back of the net with 2:30 left in the third before Syracuse keeper John Galloway misread the Greyhound attack and left freshman Stephen Murray wide open for another goal. All of a sudden the four-goal deficit was cut in half.

Not for long. Loyola turned it over early in the final frame, and Syracuse shot once, twice, thrice, fourth time's the charm to go up 10-7. MacDonnell ended his spectacular day with a big shot to bring it back to two, but Patrick Perritt answered for the Orange.

With the game winding down, Loyola, in need of immediate offense, started to press and employ double teams. They left the cage open, which, against Syracuse, is sort of like leaving the wolf to guard the chicken coop. The Hounds put a short-stick on Syracuse's Dan Hardy, and the big man took advantage for the team's twelfth score, and Perritt closed it out with No. 13.

Perritt, Hardy and Leiville scored three goals apiece to lead the Orange, who outshot the Greyhounds 56 to 28.

"I think the kind of shots Loyola takes are higher percentage shots than a lot of teams do, especially with the way they played today," Desko said. "And their goalie did really well, especially for a freshman in the Carrier Dome. He was very quick. In the second half, I think we just started capitalizing on our opportunities."

It was a disappointing end for the Hounds, who were not fazed by the Carrier Dome crowd. Senior Shane Koppens took advantage of a lackadaisical Syracuse defense early, finding freshman Chris Basler for the game's first score. It was Koppens' 50th career assist and his team-leading 14th of the year. Seven minutes later, MacDonnell tallied goal No. 1 to put the Hounds up 2-0.

The Orange got a kick in rear from Desko at the end of the first frame, and Kenny Nims finally scored, ending Hagelin's run of 67 minutes and 37 seconds without allowing a goal (dating back to the UMass game). Syracuse proceeded to put two more quick goals on the board before MacDonnell went back-to-back, giving Loyola a 4-3 advantage. But Perritt and Leveille both scored, making it 5-4 going into halftime.

The Greyhounds now return home for two conference games, starting with Rutgers at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

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