The head of Ben Williams’ stick was folding and so was Syracuse’s season. Albany won the first five faceoffs of Sunday’s NCAA tournament first-round matchup and held a two-goal lead after the first quarter.

But after the fourth faceoff of the game, Williams changed his head. It’s something he’s done throughout the season, but the change coincided with the Orange’s reversal in an eventual 11-9 victory.

“The one I came out with, just the first few faceoffs, it wasn’t bending how I like it,” Williams said, “so I had one ready to go and subbed it out the rest of the game. It definitely helped a little bit.”

Williams finished the game just 12-of-24 at the X, but also 12-of-19 after losing the first five. The turnaround, by the ninth-best faceoff man who wins 63.1 of his faceoffs entering the game on Sunday, played a key role in No. 8 seed Syracuse’s (12-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) come-from-behind 11-9 win over the Great Danes (12-4, 6-0 America East) on Sunday night in the Carrier Dome. The Orange will next face top-seeded Maryland on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

In two previous games against Albany, Williams went a combined 41-of-51 on faceoffs. And even though the Great Danes’ Zach Ornstein held him in check, Williams’ performance from the second quarter on gave Syracuse just enough possessions to end Albany’s season.

“He’s just a very calm and content faceoff guy,” Ornstein said. “He doesn’t let the pressure get to him. … He’s just a grinder.”

 

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As Albany controlled the X early, the battle resembled postseason losses to Duke in the 2013 championship game and to Bryant in the 2014 first round. Both times Syracuse lost in the faceoff category. Those games served as the impetus for SU to pick up Williams. But at times on Sunday, Ornstein was his kryptonite. Williams lost 50 percent or more only two prior times this season.

“We didn’t expect their faceoff guy to do as well as he did,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “I thought he was a big part of getting them the ball to that potent offense.”

When Albany had the ball for the majority of the first half, the Great Danes capitalized by taking a four-goal lead into halftime. Syracuse had never come back from that many goals this season. And the Orange’s only chance to come back would be if its offense had the ball.

After the Great Danes took a 7-4 lead five minutes into the third quarter, Williams ignited SU’s offense. In the next two minutes, 17 seconds, Albany didn’t even touch the ball. A win from Williams led to a Jordan Evans goal. Then another win led to a Matt Lane goal. Syracuse drew within one.

“I can’t say he won more because of the head,” Ornstein said. “I’ve played 16 games this year, I’ve gone against a lot of different heads. That he had a head had a lot to do with it but I don’t think that’s the reason he won the faceoffs.”

While Williams recuperated to finish at 50 percent — a benchmark he failed to reach in losses to Duke and Notre Dame — it made the difference. Albany head coach Scott Marr said going 50-50 against Williams gave his team a chance to win. It had that chance, but not in the final three quarters, not after Williams changed the head on his stick and not after Williams was able to get his wings more involved in the ground ball game.

Williams doesn’t like that faceoff stats are posted on the Carrier Dome scoreboard. And even though he wasn’t looking up after the first quarter, the crowd knew what was happening as the Great Danes’ fans cheered each win louder with the momentum building.

But Williams’ U-turn squashed that, and Albany’s season, too.

“Just one at a time,” Williams said, “and we chipped away back at it.”

Published on May 16, 2016 at 12:37 am

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds