HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Though he had never heard his name called over the speakers as a starter in his three-year career at Syracuse, backup goalie Al Cavalieri woke up Saturday morning knowing it might be that day when he starts between the pipes for the Orange. Starting goalie John Galloway was sick with the fl and might not be ready for action against Maryland in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. So the backup prepared accordingly when he woke up. ‘I told myself I’d have to get in the mindset that I’m going to play,’ Cavalieri said. ‘And If I do, I do, and if I don’t, then I don’t. I tried to get as excited as I can, this was my first chance.’ And what an impression he made. In his first career start, Cavalieri played like a seasoned veteran in the net here at Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra, propelling No. 2 Syracuse to an 11-6 victory over Maryland in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in front of a crowd of 11,259. Cavalieri saved 14-of-26 shots and the defending champions advanced to the final four at Gillette Stadium next Saturday to face the winner of Duke and North Carolina. ‘I mean, you work so hard for this and everyone is always ready on the team whether they’re a starter or a backup,’ Cavalieri said. ‘I just got an opportunity and having the team behind me and having the team we have, we got through it.’ Before the game started, Cavalieri jogged onto the field with volunteer assistant coach Kevin Donahue to warm up, without Galloway in sight. The starter eventually made his way onto the field and took some shots. But right before the game started, Cavalieri was told he would be the man in net for the Orange (14-2). Syracuse head coach John Desko said he hopes Galloway, who missed a game for the first time in his college career to snap a streak of 33 consecutive games, is ready for next Saturday’s contest, but if he isn’t, Cavalieri is ready. Maryland (10-7) tested Cavalieri right away. Just under four minutes in, the Terrapins’ Jake Bernhardt fired a bullet at Cavalieri that was stopped. Shortly after, Cavalieri made successive saves, including a great stop on a low shot to his right. In the first quarter alone, Cavalieri stopped all five shots he faced. ‘The first shot they had, I think they rushed it a little bit, and it was right on my stick and that was just a good confidence builder,’ Cavalieri said. ‘I knew the guys in front of on defense are so good and knew they would be there to help me out throughout the whole game.’ The defense helped Cavalieri by keeping Maryland from making good shots. The Terrapins only fired 26 shots in the game, as the Orange pressured them any time they came near the crease. The defense aggressively used their sticks to knock the ball free from the Terrapins and this led to 16 turnovers in the game. While Cavalieri and the defense stymied the Maryland offense, Syracuse worked to pick apart the Maryland defense. Kenny Nims started the scoring with an unassisted goal from the right side of the cage to give SU a 1-0 lead just 5:15 into the game, and SU added goals from Dan Hardy and Josh Amidon later in the first to take a 3-0 lead after one. Maryland cut the score to 5-3 at half, but Syracuse used a 6-1 run in the second half to put the game away. With SU leading 6-4, the Orange scored five unanswered goals by five different players to seal the game with an 11-4 lead with 13:33 remaining. Since Cavalieri was making his first start, the squad knew it was important to stake their goalie early protection. ‘We didn’t’ want him to be uncomfortable out there and we knew we had to step it up a little bit and get some goals in the first quarter,’ said SU attack Nims, who led the squad with four points. ‘That’s what we try to do every game and today I’m really happy with the way our offense started out and it helps when you got Al back there making some great saves.’ Cavalieri didn’t stop, though, with the game out of reach. In the fourth, Cavalieri saved a shot, but the ball deflected to Maryland’s Grant Catalino, who led Maryland with three points. Catalino, standing right outside the crease, tried to get it past Cavalieri above his eyes, but the goalie just reached up his stick and somehow, the ball found its way into the pocket for an incredible save. Nothing could go wrong for the first timer. ‘It’s something that every coach tells somebody in Alex’s position, how important that position is,’ Desko said. ‘Sometimes those guys never get a chance to show it. So I think a coaching standpoint, you don’t want a player to get sick for it to happen, and Alex got a chance and he validates everything we’ve been talking about.’ As the clock winded down, Cavalieri lifted his arms up and down, urging the crowd to make some noise. Once the buzzer hit, he was engulfed by teammates, celebrating with him his victory and another final four appearance for the defending national champions. ‘It was a great feeling,’ Cavalieri said. ‘I’m just glad were going back to the final four. We got two games left and gotta get it done. We gotta work this next week in practice and get it done.’

mrehalt@syr.edu