With eight minutes remaining in the game, Syracuse goalie Drake Porter jogged to the sideline, greeted by high fives and slaps from teammates. Luke Strang replaced him in net, and five minutes later, Strang too was replaced by Willie Klan III, who didn’t face a shot.

While Orange fans weren’t witness to the offensive show they saw a week ago, Syracuse (2-0) still dominated nearly every aspect of Saturday’s 17-4 win over Binghamton (0-2). SU outshot the Bearcats 55-21, won 21-of-25 faceoffs and locked up the victory early enough to play both their second- and third-string goalies.

Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Scanlan encore

Eight days after setting the record for goals by an Orange debutant (7), Chase Scanlan continued to generate offense against Binghamton. Just over four minutes into the contest the score was Scanlan 2, Binghamton 0. 

While Scanlan failed to score for the remainder of the game, his presence opened space for teammates by drawing Bearcat defenders. Early in the third quarter, Scanlan drew a slide and dished the ball to teammate Griffin Cook, who beat Binghamton’s Teddy Dolan, giving Scanlan his first assist of the season. 

Scanlan ended the game with only two goals, what may seem tame after his touchdown (and extra point) last week, but he still led the Orange in points (five). Scanlan’s position to the left of opposition goals will be a spot to watch for the rest of SU’s season.

643 days later …

Four minutes into the second quarter, Tucker Dordevic took the ball at the top of the offensive zone. As he had all game, he ran at his man, stutter-stepped and juked right to open space. Having shaken his defender, Dordevic wound up a high-to-low shot and bounced it into Binghamton’s net.

Pat March’s new offense found success last week against the Raiders through moving the ball through X and focusing on ball movement, Stephen Rehfuss said, but Dordevic’s one-on-one approach differs from the overall game plan. One of the best individual dodgers at SU, Dordevic continually got the ball at the top of the offensive zone, ran at his man and created his own shooting space. While the redshirt sophomore scored only one goal, he generated seven shots and added a late assist.

No Mellen, No Problem

With two-time All-American and team captain Nick Mellen watching from the sideline with a “week-to-week” muscular injury suffered against Colgate, the Orange close defense still dominated. Syracuse allowed only 21 shots, resulting in just four goals against. 

Mellen’s absence benefited junior Grant Murphy’s playing time the most, but Brett Kennedy took over as the lead coverage defender. All game, Kennedy marked the Bearcat’s William Talbott-Shere, Binghamton’s leading point scorer in 2019. Unable to find space beyond Kennedy’s reach, Talbott-Shere was held to only one assist and a single shot on Saturday.

The lock-down performance did, however, come against a team that averaged only 8.15 goals per game last season. If Mellen, who has yet to practice, misses next week’s game against Army — a team that has beaten two ranked opponents already — Syracuse’s back end will truly be tested.

Published on February 15, 2020 at 4:25 pm

Contact Mitchell: mbannon@syr.edu