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Syracuse came off its worst loss of the season less than a week ago, falling 22-6 to Notre Dame. It’s matchup against UAlbany was primed to be a bounce-back to .500. Instead, Syracuse fell by two goals, and with a limited midfield due to injuries, it couldn’t handle an Albany offense that exploded for 25 shots on goal.

Here are three observations from Syracuse’s 14-12 loss to UAlbany.

SU can’t weather the storm

Syracuse were bailed out of its 16-goal defeat by facing its probable final unranked opponent of the season. Instead, the Orange dropped their second straight road game. Still they outshot UAlbany 52-30, overcoming the rainy conditions with a 12-goal performance.

Albany was able to direct all but three of its shots on goal, which was prevalent early on as it shot 17 times that were either scored or stopped by SU goalie Bobby Gavin.

Graydon Hogg led UAlbany with four goals, finding goals that would either end a Syracuse lead or extend a Great Danes advantage. Still, hat tricks from the Orange’s Jacob Buttermore and Tucker Dordevic helped SU overcome a five-goal deficit midway through the third quarter.

But as Brandon Aviles was called for a pushing penalty, UAlbany earned its sixth man-up opportunity of the game. Camden Hay stood in the middle of Syracuse’s man-down, box setup where he fired the ultimate dagger that put Syacuse down three goals for the first time in the final frame, with just three minutes remaining.

Syracuse relied on many passes inside to fire its shots. It worked on Brendan Curry’s second of the game that began the Orange’s late third-quarter comeback push. It worked on Owen Seebold’s 4-3 go-ahead goal in the first quarter. Still, it was UAlbany’s third-string goalie Will Ramos, who made his first appearance of the season, who stole the show for the Great Danes by making 15 saves.

Overcoming injuries

Griffin Cook missed his second straight game after leaving the Duke game with a lower-body injury, and his absence adds him onto a growing list of unavailable starters. But alongside the likes of Cook, Owen Hiltz and Lucas Quinn was Tyler Cordes, who missed Thursday’s game due to illness. Cordes had been Quinn’s replacement since the Stony Brook game after being a regular on the second midfield line.

Buttermore and Pete Fiorini made their first starts of the season. Lower-line midfielders like Matt Magnan and Max Rosa dressed for the first time since March 6.

Buttermore scored his second and third goals of the season before halftime. His first goal tied the game at one early on as he received the ball at the top of the crease from Mikey Berkman who was behind the net. Then after SU trailed by two goals for the first time of the first half, Buttermore pulled Syracuse back within a goal of the Great Danes after beating his long-pole defender and dodging into the crease for the score.

Then he pulled Syracuse within one again after scoring off a feed from Curry, taking a step down shot that beat Ramos.

Fiorini also helped on the defensive end, helping Syracuse generate clears — where it went 20-for-24 on the day. But he also tallied an assist on Dordevic’s second goal of the game, setting him up 15 yards away from goal as Dordevic unleashed a sidearm shot to Ramos’ right.

Dordevic quiet early on, ignites Syracuse late

Dordevic only took two shots in the first half, with both sailing wide of the net. As the ball wasn’t finding him early on in Syracuse’s possessions, he often wouldn’t get a chance to help move the ball around or shoot, as some sort of turnover — SU finished with a season-high 21 — typically ended those possessions without a real opportunity.

Dordevic had scored his second goal of the game a few minutes into the third quarter, but on SU’s next possession, he didn’t touch the ball for the first 75 seconds of it. He was finally open with five seconds to go, but it was too late as he fired a shot once the horn went off out of frustration, resulting in a 30-second delay of game penalty.

Fortunately for SU it managed to score on that man-down play as Jerry Staats set up Berkman in transition. But it also inspired a game-high five-shot fourth quarter, which ultimately wasn’t enough as SU fell 14-12.

Published on April 7, 2022 at 9:39 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu