CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Dominic Lamolinara has started the first half of every game this season, and Bobby Wardwell has started the second half.

But on Saturday night against Virginia, Syracuse changed its strategy and Lamolinara was in between the pipes for all but 27 seconds.

The No. 6 Orange (2-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) fell to the No. 4 Cavaliers (6-0, 1-0), 17-12, in front of 5,102 fans at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. And for the first time this season, Lamolinara played almost the entire game.

The senior made 14 saves on 55 shots, but UVA’s James Pannell found the back of the net seven times and the Cavaliers scored 17 goals — 16 on Lamolinara.

SU head coach John Desko said it wasn’t a predetermined decision to play his veteran the entire way. But with the 39-degree weather and Syracuse a man-down coming out of halftime, he decided not to switch goalkeepers.

“We stayed with Dom, and I thought Dom played very well,” Desko said. “I think we had 14 saves to their five saves, which probably kept us in the game for a while.”

Lamolinara had an up-and-down performance.

There were possessions he played well in, like when he saved shots by Cavaliers attacks Mark Cockerton and Owen Van Arsdale on the doorstep. But just as Maryland did last weekend at the Carrier Dome, Virginia exploited Lamolinara on shots close to the ground, which Pannell said was part of Virginia’s game plan.

“I would much rather have made 12 saves and given up five fewer goals,” Lamolinara said.

Virginia shot early and often in its first few possessions. Pannell and Chris LaPierre both threw shots wide right of the cage. The three shots that were on net Lamolinara saved, and the Orange took an early 3-0 lead.

But the Cavaliers erratic shooting left Lamolinara off kilter. And when Cavaliers faceoff specialist Mick Parks started to win faceoff after faceoff, the shots came faster and faster.

Pannell spun off Syracuse defender Sean Young and fired a shot by Lamolinara, extending UVA’s lead to 6-3 — finishing a streak of six straight UVA goals. After the goal, Lamolinara talked briefly with defenders Brandon Mullins and Jay McDermott, and Young came over as well before the Orange called timeout.

On Virginia’s last possession of the half, Lamolinara made a save on the doorstep to turn away Cockerton, keeping the Orange within reach at 13-10.

He finished the half with three saves in each of the first two quarters.

“I thought Dom played great,” Syracuse midfielder Scott Loy said. “They had close to 60 shots. What more can you do? Anytime a team has 60 shots, it’s tough to keep them off the board.”

Coming out of the break, Lamolinara made two saves on Virginia’s opening possession. The Orange trailed by two in the third, and eventually evened the score at 9-9.

With Virginia leading 13-10, Lamolinara made a save up high on Virginia attack Zed Williams. But Lamolinara lost sight of the rebound and turned around to see if the ball went in the net. It didn’t, but Pannell picked up the loose ball then tapped it in.

Lamolinara smacked his stick on the ground and clenched his fists in disappointment.

After his goal, Pannell had a message for the freshman Williams.

Shoot low.

Minutes later, with the Cavaliers leading 14-12, Williams listened. He put a shot into the bottom right of the cage underneath Lamolinara for the first goal of his career.

With Parks winning 13-of-15 second-half faceoffs, Syracuse didn’t have the ball enough to stage a comeback. Pannell and Cockerton iced the game in the final five minutes with each of their 22nd goals of the season — both flying past the senior and into the back of his cage.

Said Lamolinara: “This one’s on me tonight.”

Published on March 2, 2014 at 1:03 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu