Syracuse 11 - Alumni 5: SU Dominates The Old Guys

In what has become a Syracuse lacrosse tradition, the Syracuse Men's Lacrosse Team took on a Syracuse Alumni squad Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse will finish up its fall ball slate next weekend at Ridley High School in Folsom, PA, when they participate in the HEADstrong Foundation's Nicholas Colleluori Fall Lacrosse Classic. The Orange will play back-to-back scrimmages against Bellarmine at 10 a.m. and Binghamton at 11:30 a.m.

One quick before we get into the game, the team announced Saturday that Randy Staats has been ruled ineligible to compete this fall. While Staats can continue to practice with the team, he may not participte in any of the Orange's three fall scrimmages.  Coach Desko would not speak on the reason for Staat's ineligibility, but did say that he is confident that the former OCC transfer would be back competing with the team for the spring.

Yesterday, the current Syracuse players won 11-5 over the Alumni, boosted by Kevin Rice's 4 goals and 2 assists. Tommy Palasek who put up 2 goals on the day led the Alumni. The only other Alumni to score were Casey Powell, Mike Leveille, and Derek Maltz. In addition, although JoJo Marasco had only an assist in the game he wore the new Cascade R helmet (Syracuse themed of course) and it looks pretty sick.

Bobby Wardwell started the game in net, playing just one quarter, and took home 3 saves on 4 shots. The one goal Wardwell let up came from Powell, so no faulting him there. OCC transfer Warren Hill took the second period, making one save and allowing one goal (Leveille). Sophomore Parker Ferrigan played the third period, and let up 2 goals (Palasek, Maltz). Fellow Sophomore Evan Molloy finished out the game and gave up one goal (Palasek) on two shots.

On the other end, John Galloway played the first half allowing 2 goals and making 6 saves. Long time backup for Galloway, Al Cavalieri, took up the crease duties in the third quarter. Cavalieri allowed 6 goals in the period and made 5 saves. The fourth quarter went to last year's starter Dominic Lamolinara who tallied 2 saves and allowed 3 goals.

As for the face-offs...five players took to the X for the Varsity team: Ben Williams (4-7), Zach Vehar (3-4), Joe DeMarco (4-4), Austin Wentworth (0-2), and Mike Iacono (0-2). Overall the current Orange went 11-19. Of the five who took to the face-off circle three played for the Orange last year. DeMarco played in just two games in the 2014 season and finished with a 5-13 face-off record. Wentworth played in six games and took only 5 of 14. The third returner, Mike Iacono, appeared in six games last year and compiled an 8-25 face-off record. The three returners combined for an 4-8 face-off record Saturday, not a good omen for the season. Now for the new faces...Vehar is the transfer from Quinnipiac who joined the Orange this summer. While at Quinnipiac, Vehar won 53.5% of his face-offs (159-297). Ben Williams, another 2014 transfer, played last season at Holy Cross. As a Crusader, Williams won 53.1% (186-350) of his face-off battles.

Another Syracuse transfer (from the famed OCC pipeline), Tim Barber, picked up an assist and a goal in the Alumni game. Barber was the 2014 NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year and a two-time NJCAA All-American.

Dylan Donahue had 2 goals and 2 assists while sophomores J.T. Forkin, Sergio Salcido, and Jordan Evans picked up a goal a piece. Fellow sophomore Nick Weston finished off the day with a goal and an assist.