SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Blood dripped off the left side of Ben Williams’ chin as he stood next to the field where Syracuse’s spotless record had been ruined just moments before.

He was not unwilling to talk about the play that severely shifted the momentum in Notre Dame’s favor, but had no intention of dwelling on it.

Syracuse took its first lead with 1:06 to play on Dylan Donahue’s seventh goal of the afternoon. The script was ready to write itself before UND’s P.J. Finley picked up the faceoff from Williams untouched and scored undefended to tie the game seven seconds later.

“He got the whistle a little bit, and put it out the front and he put it away,” Williams said. “Not too much rocket science in that. … He saved the game for his team.”

Williams lived up to the reputation that he’s developed for himself throughout the season’s first seven games on Saturday. He finished 18-of-29 at the X and was at the center of a 9-2 run that turned a six-goal deficit into a one-goal lead. But his effort wasn’t enough as the No. 1 Orange (7-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) fell 13-12 in double overtime to No. 2 Notre Dame (6-1, 2-0) at Arlotta Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

Because of him, Syracuse had 37 ground balls to UND’s 27. Because of him, it had 44 shots, while the Fighting Irish had only 35. Because of him, his performance all season had been enough for Syracuse to find a way to win.

But on Saturday, SU could not.

“They play great defense, and we were going to have to work for everything we got,” SU head coach John Desko said, describing how Notre Dame won despite Williams’ play. “We had some opportunities, I think we were even out-shooting them at halftime. The ball wasn’t dropping.”

Notre Dame threw five different faceoff specialists — including Trevor Brosco, who hasn’t taken a faceoff in two seasons — to try and disrupt Williams. But after Nick Ossello won the first, Williams captured eight out of nine to end the first half.

And even though the Fighting Irish couldn’t prevent Williams from getting the ball, it stagnated the offense once it got in his stick. It pressured him to make it difficult to attack or pass into the offensive zone after his wins. It forced him to pass behind to his defense and for SU to clear the ball after that.

“You can’t get used to anybody,” Williams said. “We knew that was their plan coming in.”

When Syracuse gave up its lead on Finley’s goal, Desko said it “shocked” SU. Defender Brandon Mullins said Finley was the “last person” he expected to make the play. Williams said the moment was a “learning experience.”

Saturday marked the first taste of defeat in a season that has revolved around Williams’ dominance. As he goes, so too has Syracuse. He had won 11 consecutive in the first half against Duke six days prior to help open up a 12-goal halftime lead. That came just a week after a 7-of-11 performance in the second half to help the Orange pull away from Johns Hopkins.

“Ben’s great every game. Compared to what we’ve had in the past, you know,” Mullins said. “Ben’s the MVP of every game.”

On Saturday, there was no question that Williams did his job well enough to help get Syracuse a win.

In the end, though, he just wasn’t able to do everything.

Published on March 28, 2015 at 4:25 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3