The first game of the Gary Gait era for Syracuse men’s lacrosse was a success — enough to get the Orange faithful thinking about the prospects of winning championships not just in the future, but as soon as 2022.
Owen Seebold and Tucker Dordevic each scored five goals as Syracuse cruised to a 28-5 victory over Holy Cross at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Playing without an injured Owen Hiltz, the Orangemen saw 11 players score in the blowout.
Syracuse took 31 shots in the first half and scored 19 goals, including four from Brendan Curry, who finished with six points. The Orange scored with top-shelf rockets, transition shots and a beautiful behind-the-back from Dordevic. The full depth of talent was on display. Defensively, Syracuse did not allow a goal until the second quarter.
With reserves playing much of the second half, Basil Aburn chipped in a pair of goals to cement the big win.
MARYLAND DOMINATES LOYOLA
Maryland men’s lacrosse impressed in its first game of the 2022 season, dispatching a tough High Point squad and dropping 21 goals in the process. Soon after, the Terps set their sights on their first top 10 opponent in a Loyola team that allowed under 10 goals per game in 2021.
If Saturday’s performance was any indication, Maryland’s offense, which lost Tewaaraton Award winner Jared Bernhardt after last season, will be one of the best in all of college lacrosse.
Logan Wisnauskas continued a strong start to his season with six points, as the Terps blew out their in-state rival 20-8 at Capital One Stadium. Jonathan Donville and Eric Malever each chipped in hat tricks in the high-powered performance. This is the first time ever that Maryland has opened its season with consecutive 20-goal games.
Maryland’s offense kept pace with Loyola in the first quarter but exploded in the second to take control of the game. Wisnauskas and faceoff man Luke Wierman each had a pair of tallies in a 10-goal second quarter that gave Maryland a 14-5 lead at halftime.
Eric Malever and Owen Murphy each had two goals in the second half, making it so that Loyola could not come within eight goals.
ARMY SURVIVES AGAINST UMASS
Brendan Nichtern was as advertised on Saturday for Army, but the Golden Knights got all they could handle from a resilient UMass team at Mitchie Stadium.
Army led by as many as five goals in the first half and bythree goals with just minutes left but held on for a 14-13 season-opening victory. Nichtern had two goals in the fourth quarter, and Reese Burek’s goal with 1:13 remaining served as the game-winner.
The Black Knights nearly were forced to overtime. After Burek’s goal, UMass won the ensuing faceoff and cut the deficit to 14-12 with 48 seconds left. The Minutemen won another faceoff and pulled within a goal with 36 seconds left after a Shane O’Leary tally.
Army’s Joey Stillings picked up the ground ball on the next faceoff, allowing his team to run out of the clock and survive a tough test from UMass.
UTAH BEATS RANKED OPPONENT FOR FIRST TIME
Just a week after taking Denver to the brink, Utah made the trip to Vermont looking to pick up its first ranked win in school history and its first victory under new coach Andrew McMinn.
Leading by as many as five goals in the fourth quarter, Utah withstood a furious rally from Vermont and got a game-winner from Josh Rose to upset the Catamounts 11-10 for their first ranked victory in program history. Jared Andreala scored three goals, and Jordan Hyde had four points, to lead Utah to the historic win.
Andreala had two goals in a back-and-forth first half that saw the Utes take a 5-3 victory in the break. Tyler Bradbury got hot in the third quarter, chipping in two goals to help Utah push its lead to four goals entering the final period. Despite losing the faceoff battle 14-11, Utah won five faceoffs in the third-quarter rally.
Hyde scored just 8 seconds into the fourth quarter to give Utah the 10-5 lead, and Vermont responded. Liam Limoges and Jonathan McConvey each scored twice in a five-goal rally that tied the score with 6:06 remaining.
Both teams struggled to find the go-ahead goal until a save from Zion Dechesere turned into a strong transition opportunity and a goal from Rose to make it 11-10. Vermont won the ensuing faceoff but could not get a shot off in the final minute.