On Sunday against Army, Syracuse finally played like John Desko said the Orange needed to.

Since getting embarrassed by Colgate in the opener, Desko’s harped on winning faceoffs, vacuuming ground balls and clearing. A week ago against then-No. 15 Albany, some of the issues were corrected. SU won the ground ball battle and cleared efficiently. But the Orange still lost at the faceoff X and won mostly on the back of its stout defense against a one-dimensional Great Danes attack.

Against the Black Knights, Syracuse scooped 15 more ground balls, went 16-of-18 on clears and won 81 percent of faceoffs. It was the type of performance Desko had been waiting for.

“We were playing uphill the whole game,” Army coach Joe Alberici said.

No. 17 Syracuse’s (2-1) 10-8 win against No. 13 Army (3-1) set the blueprint for the Orange this season. Statistical margins, coupled with another strong defensive outing and 10 goals from seven different goal scorers earned SU the win. Considering that Army goalie AJ Barretto made a career-high 18 saves and SU held the ball for most of the game, the Black Knights were fortunate to keep it as close as they did.

“It was about as I thought it might go,” Desko said. “We knew that Army was going to play for 60 minutes, they always do.”

In the opener against Colgate, the Orange defended valiantly but fell short on clears, ground balls and even got outshot (41-36). Struggles at the faceoff X were noted. They continued against Albany a week later, but were masked by a dominance in ground balls, shots and the fact that outside of Tehoka Nanticoke, the Great Danes didn’t pose much of a scoring threat.

Against Army, the Orange dominated statistically, starting at the faceoff X. After Danny Varello started and won two of his first three draws, Jakob Phaup spelled him and dominated Army’s Evan Condon, finishing 15-of-18.

In possession often, SU’s offense worked the ball around, milking the shot clock and shooting when good opportunities presented themselves. SU struggled to take its good looks against Colgate and Albany, when some players felt like shots were rushed. The Orange didn’t struggle to get open or good looks against Army, but were befuddled by Barretto, who kept the game from becoming a blowout.

After SU spent most of a third-quarter possession hunting a shot, Barretto saved it. The rebound hopped into Stephen Rehfuss’ awaiting stick, alone on the backside. With an open net three feet away, Rehfuss calmly flicked his stick forward, into the wide webbing of Barretto as the senior dove from right to left, landing with the ball and starting the clear.

Despite Barretto’s career day, Army couldn’t seem to stop defending. Every save seemed to come with a blown clear or a lost faceoff soon after. As a result, SU cobbled together a serviceable offensive performance.

“I thought we made them play a lot of defense,” Desko said. “It’s hard to make anybody play that much defense.”

Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

When the Black Knights did break out and play some offense, they met stiff resistance. Nick Mellen, SU’s star cover defender, spent the afternoon smothering Army’s leading scorer Brendan Nichtern, who finished with one goal. Army as a team went scoreless on the man up and turned it over 16 times.

Syracuse caused 10 of those turnovers. A handful came in the middle of the field off draws, but the largest portion were in the defensive end. Army passed across and through the defense often, rather than around it. Whenever they skipped passes over the defense or from behind the net, a Syracuse long pole extended and cut out the attempt.

When shots arrived on the SU cage, Drake Porter nearly outdueled Barretto and made 16 saves. He tallied two stops before even allowing a goal on Sunday.

From scoring goal No. 3 in the second quarter to goal No. 4 in the third, Army took 18:45. In that time, SU pushed a 3-3 tie into a 7-3 advantage.

“In all, I think they played pretty stingy today,” Desko said of SU’s defense.

The margins and facets of play Desko’s emphasized in recent weeks are common coaching points. SU struggled to excel at them against weaker competition, though, and that worried Desko.

Despite a strong defense and a plethora of goal scoring options, the Orange turned in a 12-9 loss in the opener. That, it seems, was an aberration. Last weekend’s 13-5 waxing of Albany, too, doesn’t fit what SU will likely do to teams the rest of the year.

On Sunday, a clearer picture emerged. A talented defense and goalie expected to slow down and frustrate and opposing offense did. A deep, experienced offense and midfield put together enough goals to keep the Black Knights at arm’s reach. The Orange scooped more ground balls, did more to secure faceoffs and dominated time of possession.

“I think we really wore those guys down,” Porter said.

It took two weeks, but the team Desko hoped would emerge has.

Published on February 24, 2019 at 6:23 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham