Syracuse 9 - St. John's 8: New York's College Lacrosse Team...Barely

Last year, the Syracuse Orange dominated the St. John' Red Storm to the tune of 20-6. This year, the either the Red Storm showed how much improved they are or the Orange showed how much work they have left to do as SU needed a goal in the final minute of play to eke out a 9-8 victory in their Big East opener.

Redshirt senior Tim Desko scored with 1:25 left in the game to lift No. 6 Syracuse (3-1, 1-0 BIG EAST) to a 9-8 victory against St. John’s (2-2, 0-1 BIG EAST) in the BIG EAST opener for both teams Saturday, March 10 at DaSilva Memorial Field.

Desko picked up a loose ball in front of the cage and threw it past Red Storm goalie Jeff Lowman to break an 8-8 tie. It was Desko’s second goal of the game, and the Orange successfully defended for most of the final minute to secure the win.

The Orange improve to 3-1 this season and 5-0 all-time against the Storm, but in a very unimpressive fashion.

SU got off to a terrible start (12 turnovers in first half) but were able to right the ship (3 TOs in 2nd half) and readjust the way they were shooting to take over and eventually win.

SU’s shooters finally heeded coach John Desko’s pleas to change the plane of their shots on Lowman. For the better part of three quarters they were content to shoot high shots right into the goalie’s stick. The result was a first half in which defensive midfielder Kevin Drew had more goals (2) than the entire offense combined (1).

Desko and Derek Maltz continued to lea the team in scoring with three points apiece while Bobby Eilers and Kevin Drew each scored twice.

Matt Lerman made six saves in the first half and Dominic Lamolinara recorded two saves but allowed four goals in the second half.

Syracuse concludes its three-game road trip Saturday at 4 p.m. at No. 2 Johns Hopkins. With the loss to Virginia and the close-win over the Johnnies, that game is looking mighty scary.

Meanwhile, the No. 5 Women's Lacrosse team spent the weekend ending Maryland's 36-game home-winning streak. So that's better.