Syracuse misfired on 40 shots and went scoreless for more than 13 minutes in the fourth quarter as the Orange dropped a 14-12 decision at unranked Albany on a sloppy, wet night.
The Great Danes appeared in control after Thomas Decker’s unassisted goal put Albany up 11-6 with 5:40 left in the third quarter. But the Orange scored four unanswered goals, and Brendan Curry found Jacob Buttermore with 11 seconds left to pull the Orange to within 11-10 entering the fourth.
After Albany went up 12-10 seven seconds into the final period, Tucker Dordevic scored his third goal on the evening to again pull the Orange to within one at 12-11 with 10:23 to go. But that is the last goal SU would score until Owen Seebold scored his third goal with 1:02 to go.
Albany scored two more insurance goals between that time, as Syracuse couldn’t take advantage of third-string goalie Will Ramos, making his first start. Instead, Syracuse outshot the Great Danes 52-30, but only 27 of those shots were on goal.
That included converting only 1 of 4 opportunities in man-up situations as the Orange played without the injured Griffin Cook, Lucas Quinn and Owen Hiltz. Dordevic scored three goals, but was sporadic throughout the night, taking 15 shots. Each time committed 21 turnovers.
Syracuse’s loss marked the first loss to an unranked opponent since 2019, and dropped the Orange two games below .500. SU has four remaining games on the schedule, all against ranked teams.
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The Orange has not suffered a losing season since the 2007 season.
Albany was led by Graydon Hogg’s four goals, and a hat trick from Thomas Decker, who only had two career goals prior to Thursday. Buttermore and Seebold each had three goals.
Syracuse returns to action on Monday when it hosts No. 6 Cornell at the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. It will be aired on the ACC Network.
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