One possession.
That was the extent of any advantage Hobart (7-4, 4-0 NEC) had on Syracuse (9-2, 2-2 ACC) in Tuesday night’s 18-5 pummeling at the Carrier Dome.
J.Andrew Spallanzani won the first faceoff and Hobart had possession for approximately one minute and 3 seconds. Bobby Wardwell stopped Sean Donnelly’s shot with 13:57 left and 10 seconds later, Dylan Donahue scored the first goal of the game.
It was the first of 15 unanswered goals that spanned well into the third quarter, as Syracuse won the Kraus-Simmons Trophy in one of the most lopsided victories in the rivalry’s history. It was also the final home game of the season and the last for SU’s senior class.
“We got through a little senioritis in the first quarter and then I think our guys came alive and did what we wanted them to do in all facets of the game,” Syracuse coach John Desko said. “It was great to be able to get some of those seniors in that haven’t played this year in a game situation.”
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The margin of victory allowed Desko to empty his bench, with three different goalkeepers and fourth-string players seeing action. Williams, who only lost one of his nine faceoffs of the night, gave way to five different players at the X. SU won that category easily, 17-8.
That was obviously not the only category the Orange dominated, as Syracuse outshot Hobart 52-26, had a 30-18 advantage on ground balls, and forced 13 turnovers. SU also had 10 different goal scorers, and was on cruise control midway through the second quarter.
The win was significant for other reasons, with Randy Staats scoring four goals to lead the way. It was his second game back from a lower body injury and the first where he appeared comfortable.
“He has to build up his conditioning again,” Desko said. “We played him a lot in the first three quarters to help him with that. He’s pretty close to getting back where he was.”
Meanwhile, Donahue added three goals, the first of which put him past 100 for his career.
“I don’t really think of it I didn’t know about it, that they were saying it until today,” Donahue said. “No matter what the score is you want to stick to your game plan. Get the ball to the goal scorers.”
Michelle Sagan contributed to this report.
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