Syracuse head coach John Desko stood still on the sideline with his arms folded for several minutes. Already off to a hot start, the Orange added a fourth straight goal to begin the game. Desko unfolded his arms, clapped four times and re-folded them. St. John’s only had two legitimate possessions to that point, but it was back to business for SU.

Within the next two minutes, Syracuse scored twice more. The Orange scored the game’s first six goals just 12 minutes in. No. 3 SU (5-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) didn’t take its foot off the pedal against St. John’s (1-5) and cruised to a 15-4 win over the Red Storm on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome as 10 different players recorded a point.

After coming off back-to-back one-goal games, the blowout was a refresher. Syracuse displayed the style it desires, when ball movement trumps individual dodges to the net. Even without midfielder Matt Lane and attack Nick Piroli, who’s missed the past three games, the Orange spread the ball around.

Late in the first quarter, already with a 6-1 lead, SU killed off two penalties simultaneously. A chant of “Let’s go Orange” filled the quiet Carrier Dome, but even that was more muted than normal as the game was already a blowout.

Two minutes into the second quarter, Mariano stood on the sideline with both arms fully extended toward the ceiling. The Orange was already working the ball around to take time off the clock before the refs put on the shot clock.

A couple minutes later, Sergio Salcido threaded a skip pass from the top of the offensive zone to Jordan Evans who cut from the right wing toward the crease. After creeping behind defenders, Evans caught the ball and finished as his momentum carried him toward the goal. Even before Evans got the shot off, the crowd let out a collective “ooh” in admiration of the pass.

All season Desko has preached that the Orange is at its best when its offense is balanced and protecting the ball. Even as SU cycled through its backups, Syracuse finished with just eight turnovers, its lowest total of the season.

The Orange got back winning comfortably on Saturday, the way it won its first two games of the season against Siena and Albany. But in the next three weeks, SU will face No. 14 Johns Hopkins, No. 9 Duke and No. 1 Notre Dame.

Published on March 12, 2016 at 6:02 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds