It took a late push for Syracuse to beat Towson in its final scrimmage on Saturday. The Orange scored five of the last six goals to edge the Tigers 13-12 in the five-quarter game at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md.

With Syracuse’s season opener against Siena nine days away, the Orange went into the tuneup looking for solutions at the faceoff and goalie positions. And while one question veered closer to an answer, the other grew cloudier with the results.

At the faceoff X, Syracuse lost the overall battle to Towson 17-to-12, but Chris Daddio was relied on by SU head coach John Desko. Daddio finished 8-of-18 at the X — which doesn’t provide a long-term solution just yet — but no other Syracuse player took more than five or won more than one faceoff.

Towson’s Conor Pequigney was particularly problematic for the Orange, going 16-for-26 at the X on the day.

In net, things got more confusing for Syracuse. During the week, Desko said he didn’t know who was going to start, but his breakdown of Dominic Lamolinara’s ability to communicate with the defense hinted that the senior held an edge over junior Bobby Wardwell.

But any Lamolinara edge disappeared at the hands of the Tigers’ first-team offense. Lamolinara faced 23 shots in the first half, gave up nine goals and made five saves.

Wardwell was more impressive in his two frames, but did face 10 less shots than Lamolinara. The junior gave up two goals and made four saves, and redshirt freshman Evan Molloy played the fifth and final quarter and yielded one goal.

After sitting out last weekend’s scrimmages against Hofstra and Le Moyne due to paperwork issues, Onondaga Community College transfer Randy Staats made his SU debut to the tune of three goals.

Kevin Rice and Dylan Donahue — with a combined nine points — continued their dominance in the Orange attack, Donahue netting two goals and dishing three assists, Rice putting in one and assisting on three.

The Orange will open its season against Siena on Feb. 10 in the Carrier Dome.

Published on February 1, 2014 at 7:24 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse