Behind Galasso’s late goals, Syracuse lacrosse defeats Colgate

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Syracuse won its final regular season contest

Nicky Galasso scored twice in the final nine minutes of the game, Kevin Rice added two goals and three assists, and No. 1 Syracuse edged No. 12 Colgate 9-7 on Saturday afternoon.

The Orange fell behind early, as it struggled to figure out how to attack a stifling Colgate zone defense. SU also was repeatedly stymied by Raiders goalie Brandon Burke, who recorded eight first half saves (14 overall).

But after seeing his team fall behind 5-3 early in the second quarter, Syracuse head coach John Desko used a timeout to refocus his offense. Dylan Donahue responded by scoring an extra-man goal, which proved to be the impetus for a 3-0 run that gave the Orange its first lead of the game, 6-5, with 4:49 left in the first half.

» Related: Syracuse lacrosse winning ACC Championship a ‘big accomplishment’

The teams went into halftime tied, and each scored a goal in the third quarter. SU appeared to have seized momentum after being awarded a two-minute, non-releasable penalty, but the Raiders successfully killed it.

Galasso took over in the final quarter, scoring the go-ahead goal with 8:47 left, and added an insurance goal with 3:56 left for the final score.

Syracuse outshot the Raiders 43-26, while Ben Williams dominated at the X, winning 18-of-20 faceoffs.

The win should be enough to propel SU to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which will be unveiled on Sunday evening at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. The debate centers on Syracuse and Notre Dame, with the Orange defeated a ranked team on Saturday, and Notre Dame trouncing unranked Army.

Syracuse currently sits atop LaxPower’s RPI rankings.

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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.