Hobart head coach Greg Raymond said when he was watching film of Chris Daddio during the week, he thought the Syracuse faceoff specialist was underrated.

Then on Saturday, with Raymond’s squad clinging to an upset bid heading into the fourth quarter, Daddio’s up-and-down season continued its upswing and Raymond’s view of him was confirmed.

“I’m not sure if he switched anything up,” Raymond said. “He had a great fourth quarter. I thought, in addition to some turnovers and the clears that we talked about, he ended up allowing them to pull away.”

Through three quarters at Boswell Field, Daddio and Hobart specialist Jake Shapiro had each won 10 of the 20 total faceoffs. But then Daddio got into a rhythm, winning 5-of-6 draws in the fourth to help No. 4 Syracuse (9-3, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) run by Hobart (4-8, 2-3 Northeast) 15-9 and reclaim the Kraus-Simmons Trophy after losing it last season.

“He’s been working this tail off all year,” said senior midfielder Billy Ward. “I know we’re all real proud of him and it’s good to see him starting to play well.

“He was always so close.”

In Syracuse first seven games of the season, Daddio won 42.6 percent of his faceoffs and SU head coach John Desko shuffled a host of players through the circle each game.

But in the four games since that led up Syracuse’s 100th meeting with Hobart, Daddio increased his percentage by 15.6 points. Now, no other player has taken a faceoff in the last five games and the Orange, fittingly, hasn’t lost.

“He’s been key to this run we’re on right now,” Ward said. “With Chris, we go with him, and he’s been doing a great job.”

Just before the fourth quarter, Dylan Donahue netted a goal that gave SU its first lead since there was 7:33 left in the first quarter. That was when Daddio ripped off five of the final six faceoffs, even as Shapiro tried to change things up on him each try.

It allowed Syracuse to sprinkle on five more goals and also take methodical possessions that sucked the life out of Hobart and its raucous crowd.

“He allowed us to settle down offensively and put a lot of pressure on Hobart’s defense,” Desko said.

Syracuse will face Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament Friday, and that will pit Daddio against a player he has great trouble with in the past.

Brendan Fowler has become a familiar face atop the national leaderboard for faceoff percentage, and had his way with Daddio the last two times the Orange and Blue Devils met.

Yet Daddio’s riding the most success he’s had all season, and couldn’t be matching up with Fowler at a better time.

Published on April 19, 2014 at 11:25 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse