BALTIMORE — As Stephen Keogh dove to the M&T Bank Stadium turf to celebrate his game-winning goal in overtime, the majority of his Syracuse teammates flooded onto the field to pile on top of him.

But on the other end of the field, a small cluster of Orange players — mainly defensemen — huddled around goaltender John Galloway instead. It’s what most teams typically do after a win.

And for Galloway, it was an SU record 48th time his teammates have done so.

‘Looking back, it’s going to be just another reminder of the great experience I’ve had in Syracuse,’ Galloway said of the achievement.

Galloway’s 13 saves helped No. 1 Syracuse pull out the 9-8 win over No. 20 Georgetown on Saturday at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. The victory made the senior the winningest goalie in the Orange’s storied history, pushing him ahead of Jay Pfeiffer, who played from 2002 to 2005. And though Keogh stole the spotlight with his fourth goal in overtime, Galloway made some tough stops throughout the day to earn his record-setting 48th win.

‘You just know that he’s going to be there,’ senior long-stick midfielder Joel White said. ‘Our defense knows that. We have great chemistry on our defense and to have a guy like John in goal, it’s just a huge thing for us.’

Galloway has started 54 games in goal for the Orange since winning the goaltender position battle as a freshman in 2008. He now ranks eighth in program history with 493 saves. His save percentage has improved in each year since he arrived at SU.

‘We had to make some tough decisions when he was a freshman on who to go with, and he showed such good leadership skills, which our defense needed at the time,’ SUhead coach John Desko said. ‘ … In the save department, he’s gotten better every year he’s been here.

‘And that’s all you can ask from any of your players, especially your goaltender.’

Galloway started the game Saturday with a save on Georgetown’s first possession. Hoyas midfielder Zack Angel tried a shot from the left side, but Galloway went down to his knees to make a stick save. Shortly after, senior midfielder Jovan Miller bounced the ball into the back of the net to put SU up 1-0.

SU held possession for much of the second quarter. The only stop Galloway had to make was when Syracuse sophomore Kevin Drew lost his stick trying to cover Angel. The Georgetown middie quickly fired a shot as Drew left him to grab his stick but Galloway again stuffed him in the crease.

Galloway did struggle to stop Hoyas’ leading scorer Davey Emala, who tallied five goals on the day.

‘He’s a very talented shooter,’ Galloway said. ‘… The kid’s very creative, and he’s going to get his goals when he gets his chances.’

But Galloway shut the Georgetown sophomore down on his final chance of the day.

With SU clinging to an 8-7 lead as the clock ticked down less than two minutes, Emala got a look from the left side. He fired an underhand shot the bounced just in front of Galloway. But Galloway was able to track it and got his stick down to pop the ball up into the air. Senior defenseman John Lade caught the rebound, allowing SU to run some clock.

Georgetown scored to send the game to overtime with five seconds left, making that stop on Emala that much more important.

‘I think he’s an outstanding goalie,’ Emala said. ‘He’s obviously a great shot-stopper, but I think he does a lot more than that. His outlet passes are always on target. He really directs the defense in a great way.’

Galloway didn’t have to make a stop in overtime, as SU won the faceoff and Keogh’s goal came on that first possession.

And although most of the Orange stormed onto the field to pile onto the senior attack after his game-winner, Galloway’s defenders congratulated him again on the other end for the program-record 48th time.

‘I think it’s an exciting stat,’ Desko said. ‘… I think he’ll enjoy it more as time goes on. It’ll be something for him to think back one day and look at, take a lot of pride in. It’s the result of a lot of hard work.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on March 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm