Tim Barber and Dylan Donahue combined for 10 points as Syracuse opened ACC play with a dramatic 14-13 win over Virginia on Friday evening.
With Syracuse up 13-12 with 6:12 remaining, attackman Nick Mariano scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal. It earned him a hat trick, and was important for other reasons, as it halted a 4-0 run from the Hoos.
Virginia pulled to within a goal with 33 seconds left as James Pannell scored unassisted. But on the ensuing faceoff, Ben Williams won his 18th draw in 29 chances on a violation, and SU was able to run out the clock.
The Orange went into halftime up 8-7, and outscored the Hoos 3-1 in the third period. Syracuse scored a pair of goals to open the fourth quarter as part of a 4-0 run to take a 13-8 lead with 14:08 left, and appeared to be complete control of the game.
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But Virginia responded with a goal from Greg Coholan roughly two minutes later. That was the impetus to a 4-0 run, culminating with another Coholan goal with 8:39 left to pull the Hoos to within 13-12.
That prompted Syracuse head coach John Desko to call timeout. Syracuse lost the faceoff out of the timeout, but Warren Hill saved a potential equalizer from Coholan a minute later.
On SU’s next possession, Mariano gave SU the lead for good.
Hill finished with a career-high 13 saves, while Derek DeJoe joined Mariano and Barber with hat tricks. Donahue scored two goals and added three assists. For Virginia, Pannell led the way with four goals.
Syracuse returns home to face former Big East foe St. John’s on Saturday.
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