Syracuse’s nationally third-ranked offense was held to its lowest goal output in more than a month. But that didn’t stop Mike Leveille.

The senior attack looks forward to playing Albany every year, having grown up in the Albany suburb of Delmar, N.Y. So even as the SU offense sputtered, Friday was more of the same for Leveille, who recorded his eighth hat trick of the season and 21st of his collegiate career.

‘It’s an exciting game for me,’ said Leveille, who has scored 20 career points against the Great Danes. ‘I just try to go out and give my best effort when I’m playing Albany. I thought they did a good job of playing defense tonight. They threw a different look at us with their zone and we weren’t as crisp as we usually are. But it’s an exciting game for me to play in and I have a lot of fun doing it.’

Leveille scored two of the Orange’s three second-half goals. On his third goal, Leveille started behind the net and sprinted to the wing, pulling an Albany defender with him. He stopped on a dime to freeze the defender, turned around and fired an overhand shot at the goal. The ball went in, and Leveille tumbled into a backward somersault.

On the season, Leveille now has 33 goals and 22 assists. More impressive is his patience around the cage. Leveille’s shooting percentage inched up to .423 Friday – a major improvement from last season (.310). He also extended his point streak to 51 games, second-longest in the nation.

High School Reunion

John Galloway knew exactly what Albany’s Joe Pompo was going to do.

‘He’s a big lefty that always tries to go off-stick high,’ the SU goalie said. ‘I mean, he did it all last year.’

That’s because the two were teammates at West Genesee High School, along with three other players on the Great Danes. On an Albany man-up in the first quarter, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Pompo – starting in place of Corey Small, Albany’s leading scorer – caught a pass on the right side and had a wide open lane at Galloway. The goalie rotated quickly and stoned Pompo’s high shot.

‘I had an idea,’ Galloway said. ‘I didn’t want to guess, but I had an idea where he was going to go. I talked to him after the game and gave him a hard time.’

Galloway didn’t fare as well against a former high-school rival. Albany freshman Brian Caufield, who played for West Islip, defeated Galloway in two straight high-school state championship games. On Friday, Caufield scored three of Albany’s five goals.

‘Caufield’s still got my number,’ Galloway said.

This and That

Albany goalie Brett Queener plays offense in man-up situations. He got one shot off, but was stopped by Galloway … SU long-stick middie Joel White drew a mini-standing ovation after a nifty spin and poke check in the fourth quarter to jar the ball loose … Head coach John Desko has used Stephen Keogh more on attack lately – sharing more time with junior Greg Niewieroski. The freshman responded with a goal in the second quarter, while getting drilled in back, to put Syracuse ahead 7-2.

Published on April 20, 2008 at 12:00 pm