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I believe the term is "welp" @acpregler Albany with the OT upset. Guess who scored? Yup, Miles Thompson. 16-15 Albany over #CuseLax
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) February 17, 2013
That sums up all the emotion left from Syracuse's humbling 16-15 double overtime loss to Albany, the first time the Great Danes have defeated the Orange. Ever.
The game went into overtime after a furious rally by the Orange cut into a three goal lead that Albany built after the first quarter. JoJo Marasco became the first Syracuse player since Kenny Nims in 2009 to record eight points in a game, as two of his assists came in that rally.
But it was not enough.
The story of the game for Albany was the Thompson Trio: Miles, Lyle and Ty are all related and have an uncanny ability to sense where the others are on the field without even looking. It was this chemistry that exploited the Syracuse offense all game and ultimately stuck the nail in the coffin.
Miles Thompson burried the final shot past Bobby Wardwall in the second overtime off of a feed from Lyle Thompson. Miles finished the day with five points, Lyle finished with eight points and Ty finished with five goals. Only two of Albany's 16 goals did not have a point dedicated to a Thompson.
The first overtime looked like it was going to Syracuse. The Orange won the opening faceoff and could not hammer the ball home even with multiple chances.
The goalie stepped up big at the end. A couple of posts here and there and we had a whole bunch of looks and it's tough. It just didn't go our way there but we trust our defense and they got the ball back for us and helped us get there in the first place. It's a tough thing but you have to take it in stride and go forward.
That's pretty much the story of the next week. The Orange should not have lost this game. However, even if they would have won, we would call it lucky. Albany's offense exposed real holes in the Syracuse defensive strategy that refused to make the shift adjustments necessary for a win. Army comes to the Dome next weekend in a game that is sure to be more physical and difficult than this week's was.
Game Notes:
Coach Desko acknowledged that Albany keyed in on Derek Maltz and successfully shut him down. The rest of the offense did step up, but Maltz scoring could be what wins these tight games moving forward.
The defense was not good outside of Brian Megill. Brandon Mullins got beat several times leaving Wardwell on an island. The Thompsons are really good, but all of the elite programs have guys like that.
Syracuse won the ground ball contest (36-32) and the faceoffs (20-15) especially when it mattered most. However, Coach Desko hinted that Albany might not be the best judge of these characteristics in the postgame presser.