The Syracuse offense reaped the benefits of Kevin Rice’s field vision all afternoon.

The junior attack operated from behind the goal and captained the SU offense by picking out cutting teammate after cutting teammate.

On a day designed to knock off the rust, Syracuse’s front looked like a well-oiled machine with Rice pressing all the buttons.

“He played well and I think the whole attack played well,” SU head coach John Desko said. “I think the group is picking up from where they left off last year.”

As the Orange poured in goals in scrimmages against Hofstra and Le Moyne in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Rice’s name continually boomed over the loudspeaker as the resident assist man. Syracuse beat Hofstra 12-8 then Le Moyne 15-4, and Rice and Co. were as good as they’ve been advertised in the last couple weeks.

In the two games combined, Rice tallied three goals and seven assists, and helped fellow attacker Dylan Donahue collect seven total goals.

“The guys know that I like to feed and create,” Rice said. “Every time I dodge they do a great job moving off ball and I thought we were sharp today and guys were getting open.”

Against Hofstra, Rice set the tone at the end of the first quarter by finding Donahue and senior Derek Maltz for two quick goals.

Then after scoring at the start of the second quarter, he lulled the Pride defense by slowing down play. Hofstra quickly caught on to Rice’s speed and shiftiness, but when he stopped and cradled behind the net, a group of watchful defenders left a gaping hole in front of the net.

Donahue dove into the gap and slotted an uncontested goal. The duo was not only effective, but effective in different ways.

“I’ve played a lot with Kevin and today felt good,” Donahue said. “He’s a guy that when he has the ball you just have to cut and be ready.”

Rice continued his dominance against Le Moyne and was rewarded with a goal-scoring chance of his own. With over 13 minutes left in the second quarter, Maltz tossed a pass to him in front of the net and after faking two shots he slid it past Dolphins goalie Ben Romagnoli.

He likes playing the part of the helping hand, but admitted after the game that being on the receiving end wasn’t so bad either.

“At first I thought ‘this is weird,’” Rice said. “But it was nice to get a pass and get to put it home.”

Published on January 25, 2014 at 5:52 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse