Syracuse 13 - Hobart 6: Orange Get Back to Winning Ways

The long and excruciating wait has come to an end. Syracuse lacrosse fans aren't used to waiting too long between wins, but that's the exact situation in which the men's lacrosse team has found themselves for the past 25 days. That's right...25 days!!!

That all came to an end on Wednesday night, however, as the Syracuse Orange went to Geneva, NY and beat the Hobart Statesmen by a score of 13-6. The victory over their Central New York rivals ended their three-game losing streak and was just the kind of convincing win the Orange needed to get their season moving back in the right direction.

Syracuse dominated this game, statistically. The Orange outshot the Statesmen, 43-21. Ben Williams was back to his winning ways, winning the face-off battle, 13-8. That, in turn, helped Syracuse to hold a 27-15 edge in ground balls. The Orange were also +4 in turnover margin, and were a perfect 18-18 on clearance attempts.

Jordan Evans posted a season-high four goals to lead the Orange, while Sergio Salcido scored a game-high five points on two goals and three assists. Dylan Donahue and Nick Mariano each added two goals and one assist to pace the offense.

On the defensive end, Evan Molloy made his first career start between the pipes, recording seven saves. Molloy got the start over Warren Hill, who has been the starter all season and who he replaced in the fourth quarter of the Notre Dame loss. It certainly felt like Molloy did enough to warrant a second start next time out for the Orange.

Syracuse jumped out of the gates in this one, scoring the first five goals of the game, all in the first quarter. They scored their first three goals in a 73 second span of the game's first five minutes. Jordan Evans recorded two of his four goals during that span.

This was a game of runs. After Syracuse started the game on a 5-0 run and looked like they would run away with it, Hobart went on a 6-2 run of their own in the second quarter and first three minutes of the third quarter.

After outscoring the Orange 3-2 in the second quarter to bring the halftime score to 7-3, the Statesmen came out firing in the third quarter. They scored three goals in the first three minutes after the half to bring the score to 7-6. They even had a great opportunity to tie the game at seven, but Evan Molloy stoned Hobart midfielder Sean Donnelly, who was alone on the doorstep, to preserve the lead. That save from Molloy lead to a run-out for Syracuse, who scored in transition when Tim Barber fed Sergio Salcido for his first of the game.

That Molloy save was the key moment of the game, because it not only prevented Hobart from tying the game up, but it provided an immediate goal for Syracuse on the other end and ignited a 6-0 Orange run to end the game. Hobart would get no closer, as the third and final run of the game belonged to Syracuse.

During the 6-0 run, Dylan Donahue scored both his goals, extending the nation's second-longest active goal scoring streak to 34 games. He also extended the nation's longest active point scoring streak to 48 games.

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Odds and Ends

By winning, Syracuse maintained control of the Kraus-Simmons trophy, which has been awarded to the victor of the annual Syracuse-Hobart game every year since 1986. Syracuse has now won 28 of the 31 meetings since the trophy started being awarded, winning every year except 1986, 2006, and 2013.

This was the 102nd meeting all-time between Syracuse and Hobart, the third-longest rivalry in college lacrosse. Only Cornell-Hobart and Johns Hopkins-Maryland have played more games against each other. The fourth-longest rivalry in college lacrosse also involves Syracuse, and it is with their next opponent, Cornell.

Up Next

Syracuse will continue their Central New York rivalry run when they take on the Cornell Big Red on Tuesday, April 12th, at 7 p.m. in Ithaca.