There was an empty seat behind the podium at the postgame press conference.

Billy Ward sat on the far right and fist bumped Nicky Galasso before admitting that he had no clue how his game-winning sudden-death goal — that lifted Syracuse over North Carolina in double overtime — found the back of the net.

Bobby Wardwell, who yielded just four goals in the third quarter, fourth quarter and two overtime periods combined, sat in between them. SU head coach John Desko took his usual chair on the far left.

Then faceoff specialist Chris Daddio jogged in to take the final spot.

Frantically, but in his own way, relieved.

“I was going to say if he’s not here,” Desko said, laughing and looking at Daddio, “then something’s wrong.”

In a season where Daddio’s play has been heavily scrutinized in losses and heartily complimented in wins, he gave the Orange’s potent offense an opportunity to win Saturday night in the Carrier Dome. The senior won 12-of-15 faceoffs in the second half and two overtime periods, and led No. 7 Syracuse (9-3, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) to an 11-10 win over No. 4 North Carolina (8-3, 2-3) that clinched an ACC tournament spot.

Daddio controlled 18 of the 26 faceoffs in the game, as the Tar Heels tried four different players — Frankie Kelly, Ryan Kilpatrick, R.G. Keenan and Brent Armstrong — in a failed effort to break his rhythm.

“They’re both great faceoffs guys, just look at their success,” Daddio said of Kelly and Keenan. “But us three, Pete and all the other wings, even when I wasn’t getting them, were getting there pretty fast.”

While answering countless questions about his successes and failures this season, Daddio has grown used to accepting blame and deflecting praise.

He credited his wings for the faceoffs he won and when asked if it felt good to finally put it all together on such a big stage, deferred to the work that is still to be done.

But for the second straight home ACC game, each one testing the Orange to salvage a lackluster start and prove itself in its new conference, Daddio elevated his game at the perfect time. When the Orange was stumbling through its winless start to conference play, Desko went away from the senior specialist in search of a permanent answer.

He mixed in transfer Mike Iacono, long-stick midfielder Peter Macartney, walk-on Austin Wentworth. And started freshman Joe DeMarco, who hadn’t taken a faceoff all season, against defending national champion Duke.

Now it’s been four games since any other Syracuse player has walked into the circle, and the Orange hasn’t lost in that span. It was the Tar Heels that poked around their bench for a solution Saturday and still, each Daddio win looked cleaner and more confident than the last.

He secured 4-of-8 in the first quarter, 2-of-3 in the second, 4-of-6 in the third and 6-of-7 in the fourth. And when the Orange’s ACC tournament bid hung in the balance, he won the opening draw of both overtime periods, the second of which led to Ward’s game-sealing goal.

“I really credit Daddio for playing as well as he did,” UNC head coach Joe Breschi said. “We threw a lot of people at him, trying to make plays and get possession, and take pressure of the defense.

“But that’s what he did. We played a lot of defense tonight.”

While Daddio has flourished during the Orange’s late-season run, there are still kinks in his game that need to be ironed out.

On several of his faceoff wins against the Tar Heels, he had trouble finding an open teammate and turned the ball over — most notably when he threw a pass by Dylan Donahue with two minutes left in regulation.

But even if Daddio’s unchanged expression didn’t show it after the game, he’s found a way to consistently do his part.

Said Daddio: “It feels pretty good. I could care less about my stats to be honest with you, as long as we end up with the ball and we win.”

Published on April 12, 2014 at 11:22 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse