Bobby Wardwell never got into a rhythm against Albany last week, allowing 16 goals on 23 shots and struggling to generate any sort of consistency.

That all changed Sunday against Army.

Wardwell bounced back and dominated in net, notching 11 saves and only surrendering two goals. The sophomore goaltender set a program record for fewest goals allowed in an entire game, igniting No. 18 Syracuse (1-1) to a 6-2 win over Army (2-2) at the Carrier Dome. Army goalie Sam Somers put in a terrific performance as well, setting the tone for a defensive-minded, methodical game that was the opposite of Syracuse’s fast-paced game against Albany last Sunday.

“I thought we did a really good job off the ball,” Wardwell said. “I thought our communication improved a lot and we just started jelling as a unit.”

SU head coach John Desko showed confidence in his goaltender, keeping him in for the entire game. Starting him this week worked impeccably well.

Wardwell got off to a scorching start, holding the Black Knights scoreless in the first quarter. His toughest challenge in the first came off of a bullet from Army’s John Glesener at the 2:12 mark. The shot would have gone in, but Wardwell stuck out his leg in the nick of time, deflecting it away from the crease.

It was the start of a dominant performance for Wardwell, who looked like the goalie who led Syracuse to a Big East championship last season and earned the starting nod in the preseason, not the outmatched and frustrated one against Albany.

Syracuse’s defense as a whole turned in one of its best performances in recent memory. The last time the Orange gave up two goals was in a 16-2 shellacking of Binghamton back in 2008. In that game, Syracuse star goalie John Galloway made five saves, while backup Al Cavalieri played the final quarter and tallied three.

On Sunday, though, the Syracuse defense and Wardwell stymied Army for the entire game, limiting Garret Thul, Glesener and company offensively.

“You’re just not going to get that first opportunity that often,” Army head coach Joe Alberici said. “You’ve got to work for one, and work for one and work for the best opportunity instead of the first one. At times, we settled for the first one.”

Wardwell only had two blemishes on the night – one on an over-the-shoulder goal by Tyler Kamide and the other by Glesener. Both came in a high-scoring quarter that featured six of the game’s eight goals, and neither was on a blatant mistake by Wardwell.

He saved two shots in the final quarter, including one in the game’s waning minutes on a shot from Thul that iced, zipped and sealed the game for the Orange. Thul fired a bullet, but Wardwell calmly popped the ball up to himself and made the save.

While Wardwell dominated for Syracuse, Somers put in a career performance, tallying 18 saves on 24 shots on goal. SU attempted 44 shots total, constantly bombarding the sophomore left-hander.

Desko was impressed with Somers’ play. He said Army has been mixing and matching so far this season, consistently implementing a two-goalie rotation. Somers got the nod Sunday and delivered, playing the whole game for the first time all year.

“We’ve watched three of their games so far … and we hadn’t seen him play like this,” Desko said. “I thought he was outstanding. They found an answer there.”

One of Somers’ best saves came with 10:34 to go in the third quarter. SU’s Scott Loy gathered up a full head of steam and burst toward the goal. He fed attack Derek Maltz, who fired a laser toward Somers. Somers remained calm, stopping the shot as the ball ricocheted toward the sideline.

“I thought their goalie was terrific,” Desko said. “I thought we had some shots at the doorstep that he took away from us. We told the guys to shoot in certain places and they responded and they did and their goalie came up big.”

Published on February 25, 2013 at 1:28 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass