The player Syracuse’s offense revolves around was reduced to a secondary role.

In No. 3 Syracuse’s (3-0) nail-biting 9-8 win over Army (2-2) on Sunday, Dylan Donahue only had one goal and one assist and didn’t record a point in the game’s final 29 minutes or a shot in the final 20.

“(Donahue) was definitely one of our options in that last quarter,” SU head coach John Desko said, “and I wish we had gone to it one or two more times.”

Twenty days since Desko rested Donahue in two scrimmages and said he’s the only player on the team with nothing to prove before the season, the senior was blanketed by Army defender Austin Schultz. After scoring five goals and dishing nine assists in the first two games, the Black Knights turned him from SU’s offensive quarterback to just another player on the field.

Donahue’s best play came and went in the first quarter. With the Orange trailing by two, he set up behind the net and in front of Schultz. When he charged around the left side of the crease, Schultz couldn’t keep up and Donahue stuck the ball into the far top corner, cutting Army’s lead to 3-2. Syracuse went to its go-to player to end the Black Knights’ early momentum and begin a six-goal run.

But as the game progressed, Schultz caught up to Donahue, used his body positioning to push him away from the middle and rarely allowed Donahue to turn the corner and get to the goal.

“Dylan Donahue’s one of the best attackmen in the country,” Army head coach Joe Alberici said. “I thought what you say today, Austin Schultz was really up to the task.”

With Schultz manning Donahue by himself, the rest of the Black Knights defense settled in. Since they didn’t have to slide, defenders stayed close to Syracuse’s off-ball weapons and clogged up passing lanes.

They were forcing the Orange to dodge to score, rather than draw a slide, but SU is best when it passes the ball quick. And Donahue is best when he can set up other players.

“He’s such a smart player and he’s always taking what the defense gives him,” Alberici said on Wednesday. “… We’re definitely going to have to know where he is at all times and what his matchup is. The minute you start spending all your energies on him, he’s going to start getting the ball to the right person.”

 

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The only other time Donahue cleanly beat Schultz, with five minutes left in the third quarter, the defensive slide never came. Donahue dipped low to the ground under Schultz and created space to get to the goal. Except his shot went right into goalie AJ Barretto’s stick and players on the Army bench jumped forward, nearly onto the field. Donahue lay on the turf as Syracuse barely held onto its one-goal lead.

With 10 minutes remaining and the Orange up by two, Donahue backed down his defender before the ball got knocked out of his stick. Donahue went to the sideline and Desko gave him instructions to get a better shot, one that was never attempted.

Donahue was continually stopped on the doorstep, so SU had to rely on other players and the Orange got outscored, 5-2, in the final 29 minutes of the game.

“We kind of played into their hands a little bit,” Donahue said. “Not going to take away credit from them, but yeah, it’s definitely challenging. You got to adjust in the middle of the game.”

Except Donahue and Syracuse never did adjust even though the Orange was able to win its first close game of the season.

Published on February 28, 2016 at 8:12 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds