The Orange fell to Albany in the season opener. It took double overtime, but the Great Danes finally put it away 16-15.
WHAT HAPPENED: Apparently no one told the Orange that the season starts today. The Great Danes came into the Carrier Dome and capitalized. Albany started off the game with a 4-0 run that was eventually stopped by a Derek Maltz goal. Albany had jumped out to a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. SU couldn’t seem to slow down the Thompsons, who were ripping apart the Orange defense.
The second quarter boasted much of the same. The Orange continued to play sloppy and Albany capitalized with three goals. SU still trailed Albany at the half 8-5.
The Orange came out of the locker room firing. SU surged back to tie the game at 9. Albany responded with a 4-0 run but that didn’t stop Syracuse. Another comeback led to the game being sent to overtime.
The face off in the first overtime went to the Orange, as many had gone that day. SU threatened with shots on goal for the entire 4-minute period but couldn’t capitalize. The second overtime started the same way, but Albany eventually grabbed the ball for the first time since the fourth quarter. The Great Danes coach called a timeout to gather his squad. The ball ended up in the hands of Miles Thompson of Albany who scored the game winning goal.
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WHAT IT MEANS: It’s a huge win for the Albany Great Danes, but we also learned a lot about the Orange throughout the game. One thing that really stuck out to me was the improvement at the X. Chris Daddio took all the face offs tonight for the Orange and he grabbed 20-of-35. He won both face offs to start each overtime, when it counted most.
“I think we’ve improved quite a bit,” Desko said about face offs. “I think Chris is more experienced now. He’s picking the ball up better and making better decisions with it.”
Ultimately, it was a sluggish first quarter that really doomed the Orange. Albany jumped out to that 5-2 lead but didn’t win a quarter from that point on until the second overtime.
“We had to come from behind a couple times and we did,” Desko said. “It was just a challenge for us … I think what we had to do to give ourselves opportunities but Albany was just a little bit better today.”
STAR GAZING: Syracuse’s JoJo Marasco had a career-high eight points off three goals and five assists. But the real starts today were from the Thompson family. The three Thompsons combined for 18 points. Miles scored three goals and passed for two assists. Ty scored five goals and Lyle had six assists and two goals.
WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse will be back in action on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 at 4 p.m. against Army at the Carrier Dome. TV: TWCS.
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