As Army stormed out to a two-goal lead at the end of the first quarter against Syracuse Friday, SU attack Kenny Nims couldn’t help but think, ‘here we go again.’ Another close contest against the Black Knights, a team that has always given the Orange trouble. Another game that came down to the last minute.

But Nims’ worries were a little premature. There would be no last-minute flurry of action. No worries that Syracuse’s ranking could take a hit so early into the season. Instead, there was just domination.

No. 2 Syracuse controlled every facet of the final three quarters against No. 18 Army and won, 17-6, in front of 4,205 people at the Carrier Dome Friday night. Syracuse trailed 3-1 in the first period, but outscored the Black Knights 16-3 the rest of the contest for its largest win against the Black Knights this decade.

‘We knew that once we started executing, our shots would drop and our defense played great all game,’ Nims said. ‘It feels great to have a big win here, they always pay us tough. So it’s huge for us.’

Army has had an uncanny ability in the past to slow down the Orange. Army came into the Carrier Dome in 2007 and knocked off the No. 7 Orange, 8-6, to send the Orange into its downward spiral.

Syracuse managed to knock off Army, 8-7, last season, but the Black Knights led at the half and the Orange had to hold off a late rally. The eight goals the Orange scored last year as a season low.

While this year’s game seemed destined to be a low-scoring affair, Syracuse instead scored the most goals against Army since the Black Knights’ last game in 2007.

‘I didn’t think 17 would be the number,’ said Syracuse attack Stephen Keogh, who finished with three goals and an assist. ‘They wanted to hold the ball. Once they get the lead they kind of sit on it. But we kept going, our shots started falling, and we calmed down.’

The game seemed reminiscent of the previous contests early. Syracuse’s offense did not show any flashes of brilliance in the first quarter as Army stormed out to a 2-0 lead that translated into a 3-1 edge.

Syracuse first shots wide, high, and in about every direction except toward the goal. Of Syracuse’s 16 shots in the period, only six were on goal. Syracuse eventually scored on its last shot of the period.

While Syracuse would use a 4-0 advantage on goals from Josh Amidon, Chris Daniello and Nims in the second period to take a 5-3 lead into the half, the game was still on par for what was expected.

‘It started out a typical Army-Syracuse game,’ Syracuse head coach John Desko said. ‘I thought they were very stingy defensively I thought their goalie played very well in the first half, they had some good possessions.’

But Syracuse exploded in the second half for 12 goals to seal the game. Keogh, Amidon and Nims scored three straight goals to run the Orange’s unanswered steak to seven goals and give the Orange an 8-3 lead.

Army would quickly retaliate, but SU then went on a 5-0 run highlighted by a Matt Abbott interception that led to a Dan Hardy goal that gave SU an 11-4 lead. Syracuse led 12-4 at the end of the third quarter, and still managed for a 5-2 tally at the end of the third.

‘I think what you saw today was a lot of their big-time players making big-time plays in the third quarter,’ Army head coach Joe Alberici said. ‘I felt pretty good going in at halftime, it was 5-3. In the third quarter, after a little bit of a slow start, we made a couple off defensive mistakes.’

While the game may not have started the way Syracuse planned, the winning margin was certainly more than predicted. Desko said he expected Army to be better than it was last year, yet his team did not make Army look like a better than last year.

And because of it, the head coach couldn’t be happier heading into a showdown with No. 1 Virginia next week.

‘In the second half we were able to pull away and I’m just happy for that type of game,’ Desko said. ‘It’s great to be pushed and have to work hard to win a game like this. So all in all, I’m happy with the win and get ready for next week.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on February 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm