Syracuse opens preseason with pair of wins

Syracuse opened its preseason play with a pair of victories over No. 14 Hofstra and Division II Le Moyne. The three teams played three separate games in round-robin format.

WHAT HAPPENED: In the first game, the Orange defeated Hofstra 7-5. SU jumped out to an early 3-1 lead and took a 4-3 lead into half. Syracuse took control in the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals from Henry Schoonmaker and Matt Pratt. In the second game, Syracuse scored four unanswered goals to take a 7-2 advantage into halftime. The Orange would go on to defeat the Dolphins 11-5.

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WHAT IT MEANS: There is a lack of household names among the Orange this year. Still, that may not be a bad thing, as seven different Orange players scored a goal against Hofstra, and 10 different players scored seven goals against the Dolphins. Syracuse’s defense was also solid, allowing just 10 goals in both games. Three different goalies played for Syracuse, with redshirt sophomore Matthew Lerman, Maryland transfer Dominic Lamolinara and sophomore Ben Levy all seeing action.

STAR GAZING: It was a team effort on offense, but Christian Pagli had multiple goals in both games. He was the only Orange to accomplish that feat.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Orange close out its exhibition season by playing Maryland, who knocked Syracuse out of the NCAA tournament last year, on Sun, Feb at 12 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.