It’s hard to call it a competition when the two involved are so supportive of one another, but it seems that Dominic Lamolinara and Bobby Wardwell are entering one.

The two Syracuse goalies — Lamolinara a senior and Wardwell a junior — saw most of the time in net for the Orange on Saturday, and were equally impressive in the team’s first live action.

“I think both Bob and I did really well today,” Lamolinara said. “I feel like it’s going to be like that all year.”

Lamolinara got the start in the Orange’s first scrimmage, a 12-8 win over Hofstra, and sat the rest of the day after playing the first half. Wardwell finished the Hofstra game then played the first half of SU’s  15-4 win over Le Moyne in the second scrimmage. Then redshirt freshmen Evan Molloy and Tyler Avallone minded the net for most of the last two quarters.

Each saw pressure in the first scrimmage against Hofstra as SU faltered at the X, Lamolinara finishing with six saves and Wardwell with eight.

“They’re working together but Dom’s playing well and Wardwell’s playing very well in practice too,” SU head coach John Desko said. “It’s something that we’re quietly talking about.”

Each time Lamolinara finished a shift, Wardwell was the first to jog out and smack his helmet. When Wardwell came off, Lamolinara returned the favor. This went back and forth all day with the two talking during timeouts and quarter breaks.

Wardwell began the year as the team’s starter last season, but lost the job to Laminolara midway through. On Saturday, he seemed to regain the confidence that Desko said was missing a year ago.

“The defense really helped me out a lot,” Wardwell said. “I thought it all worked out really good today.”

Desko was very pleased and didn’t lean either way after the game, saying that Lamolinara played well and that he was glad to see Wardwell back in game action.

Nothing more than that from the coach who will have a hard time choosing his keeper in the coming weeks.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen right now,” Lamolinara said. “I don’t think I’m a starter and I don’t think Bob’s the starter. I think we have two guys who will be splitting time.

“As long as we get that championship I’ve been talking about the last two years, that’s all I care about.”

Published on January 25, 2014 at 8:29 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse