Ben Williams returns to form with 18-for-20 performance at the faceoff X in No. 1 Syracuse’s 9-7 victory over No. 13 Colgate
Logan Reidsma | Asst. Photo Editor
Ben Williams bounced back for Syracuse and won nearly every faceoff he took against the Red Raiders on Saturday.
Ben Williams was pacing around the Syracuse huddle. He circled it two full times. Then he turned around and circled it the other way.
With 8:47 left to play in the fourth quarter, the Orange had just taken its first lead of the fourth quarter. Williams was getting set to go back for the biggest faceoff of the game.
“I’m just getting in a zone and going to a different place,” Williams said. “I like to keep moving.”
Williams won the next faceoff and No. 1 Syracuse (12-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) held on for a 9-7 win over No. 13 Colgate (10-5, 6-2 Patriot) at Andy Kerr field on Saturday afternoon. On a day when SU shot a season-low 20.9 percent, Williams’ 18-of-20 performance at the X helped give the Orange a chance, and eventually, a win.
Just six days removed from a 11-of-29 showing against Duke, his worst of the season, Williams once again returned to the form that he’s proven himself capable of all season.
“It’s just back to the basics,” Williams said. “It’s not rocket science. You’re just exploding to the ball, you’re getting ground balls. Duke wasn’t my best performance, but I wanted to bounce back.”
The first faceoff of the game was a scrum at the X. SU midfielder Mike Messina and Syracuse were credited with the win before it was turned over a moment later and Colgate gained possession for the first time.
Williams won six of the next seven to finish the first quarter, and all six in the second quarter to help keep Syracuse in the contest despite a poor shooting performance and only one save from SU goalkeeper Bobby Wardwell in the first half.
“We had time of possession,” SU attack Kevin Rice said. “I’m sure we were over 40 minutes… Ben played great. That’s what we expect from him.”
Williams didn’t want to talk much about how he made such a monumental improvement from his last game. He referred to getting “back to the basics” at every opportunity.
Regardless of how he did it, it was still — percentage-wise — his best game of the season.
“I love playing,” Williams said. “I love facing off and everything. When I get in the game, I just get excited.”
Published on May 2, 2015 at 7:46 pm
Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3
