GENEVA — No. 11 Syracuse (6-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) battled No. 20 Hobart (8-2, 2-0 Northeast) for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy for the 34th time at Urick Stadium on Tuesday. A back-and-forth first quarter kept the game tied at two goals each after 15. And an eventual 12-0 scoring run secured the win for the Orange, 17-5.

Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s game.

History twice over

For most of the contest, SU head coach John Desko patrolled the sideline like he usually does. The only difference was behind him, sitting on a white table near the 50-yard-line. For the 22nd time, Desko competed for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy, the objectification of the Syracuse-Hobart rivalry.

And for the 20th time, Desko won the piece of silver named partially after his predecessor. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Desko rotated his bench into the game. The Orange pushed the margin to 10, and players on the sideline started eyeing the Kraus-Simmons, inching closer to the white table. The win meant something else to Desko, too, as the head coach won the 250th game of his career in historic, and in blowout fashion.

Offensive improvement

Before the game, four defenders in white pullovers guarded Syracuse’s crease. SU attack in blue jerseys passed around them, eyeing openings and lofting shots. For the month of March, the Orange repeatedly trailed early and needed an offensive comeback. In its last three first quarters, SU’s been outscored by nine goals. A new routine was supposed to change that.

Its revamped warmup — featuring more “game-like” aspects like dodging and shot creating, midfielder Griffin Cook said — worked partially on Tuesday night. To open the scoring, Nate Solomon threaded a pass to Stephen Rehfuss across the zone and he gave SU the lead.

The first quarter ended knotted at two but featured a slightly improved Orange attack. While SU still committed nine turnovers in the first half because of missed passes and clears, the offense did enough to keep pressure off the other end.

It carried over into the second. Jacob Buttermore and David Lipka darted through Hobart’s zone and registered goals. Senior Bradley Voigt added a pair before getting his third following halftime. After Desko stressed for weeks that slow starts were an issue that demanded fixing, the pregame shootaround paid off, and the Orange carried a two-goal lead into halftime, one that would soon snowball.

Blanked

All season, redshirt junior defender Nick Mellen has been tasked with stopping an opponent’s top-attack. Which meant that Mellen drew Hobart’s Chris Aslanian for majority of the contest. Aslanian, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound attack, entered with 13 goals and 26 assists. Yet after 30 minutes, Aslanian slumped off the turf with zero points.

Against Notre Dame this past Saturday, top-threat Brendan Gleason tallied a first-half hat trick. Desko later said that the Orange knew Gleason’s talent, but they didn’t play like it. With a 72-hour turnaround, the Orange didn’t need a bad half to adjust to Aslanian and leading-scorer Eric Holden. From the start, Mellen’s faceguard neutralized Aslanian.

Meanwhile, Tyson Bomberry drew Holden. With just more than seven minutes left in the first half, Holden beat SU’s Drake Porter and waved on the Hobart sideline. White jerseys on the sideline roared and standing Statesmen fans cheered. It was Holden’s 29th score of the season but only one of the game. The defense persisted through the third quarter, not allowing a score in the frame.

Paired with a decisive 12-0 scoring run, Syracuse brought the Kraus-Simmons Trophy back up Interstate-690.

Published on April 2, 2019 at 8:49 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez