PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Cheeks a bit red, face a bit weary, John Galloway slipped off his helmet Saturday, wiped his brow with his jersey and faced the small pack of reporters nestled in the corner of Rutgers’ Yurcak Field.

The rest of the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team strode past, a stream of chatter following its 17-9 win over the Scarlet Knights.

The freshman goalie, meanwhile, had a reason to stand out, a reason to look dejected, despite his team’s eighth win in a row.

‘It was frustrating for me to let those guys down,’ Galloway said.

Why the long face? Easy. The numbers hurt: 22 Rutgers shots, nine goals and just four saves from the freshman.

That included zero stops in a fourth quarter in which the overmatched Scarlet Knights cut the lead to four with 6:54 to play before the No. 2 Orange’s pyrotechnic offense regained control.

‘I felt great in goal the first couple quarters,’ said Galloway, who gave up three goals in the first half. ‘I felt like I was seeing the ball well. A couple went in: I saw the ball, but I just missed it. I was feeling pretty confident.

‘But you know, they just opened the gates in the fourth quarter.’

Four goals on five shots came through those gates. Justin Pennington started the RU scoring in the fourth and ended it too, slipping inside the Orange man defense and beating Galloway on a man-up goal to complete a hat trick, and pull to 13-9.

In between, Taylor Bottar and Jeff Rommel each found the back of the net. Rommel had to jump and twist to score. Bottar just had to shoot.

Though the Orange would go on a 4-0 run of its own to close out the scoring, Galloway was still troubled afterward. His save percentage for the season now stands at .518, just .04 higher than former starter Pete Coluccini’s mark last year.

It was the second game in a row, both on the road, in which Galloway stumbled. The freshman gave up seven goals, with just four saves, in a win over Cornell Tuesday night in Ithaca.

His difficulties carried over Saturday. Galloway made his saves in the middle periods – a highlight came late in the second, as he flashed his stick and stoned a mid-range shot from Pennington.

That, along with his solid clearing numbers – 16 for 19 on the day – had SU head coach John Desko optimistic.

‘I think a team like this has to work for really good shots against a Syracuse team,’ Desko said ‘They have to be a little bit more patient. They sometimes, as a result, get higher percentage shots.’

But Galloway didn’t want to hear that. He’d rather jump on his sword than listen to excuses.

The defense didn’t falter, he said.

The shifting sightlines, caused by clouds rolling back and forth above the field, didn’t affect him, he said.

And the low number of shots didn’t make it harder for him to get acclimated, he said.

‘That’s not an excuse any more,’ Galloway said. ‘Teams are only taking like 10 shots a game anyway. I need to be used to that by now.’

Such is the strain on the freshman goaltender. The team hasn’t needed him to stand on his head yet, but they soon might.

The NCAA tournament creeps ever closer – just three weeks away now. And with it comes the probability of meeting better offenses than Galloway has seen recently: Maybe a rematch with No. 3 Virginia, which dropped 14 on the Orange in an overtime victory in March, or maybe a dance with No. 1 Duke, which pounds out 16 goals a game.

Until then, the Orange will have a week to prepare for Albany (5-6) – a break after playing three games in the past eight days. Galloway himself has a week to work with assistant coach Kevin Donahue, to go over all the things that disappointed them both on Saturday.

‘I think he’s just going to get better,’ Desko said.

Galloway has leaned on his team this year, leaned on the guidance of senior captain Evan Brady and the rest of his defense. He wants to return the favor.

‘I’m just going to work on being there the whole game,’ Galloway said. ‘I haven’t given that to my team yet, playing a whole game.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on April 13, 2008 at 12:00 pm