Johns Hopkins 18, Syracuse 7: No answers for Orange men’s lacrosse

The Syracuse Orange fell to the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays 18-7 in the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

Just a good, old fashioned spanking, that’s what we saw today.

Groundballs: 22 SU – 38 JHU

Faceoffs: 10-28 SU – 18-28 JHU

Shots: 25 SU – 46 JHU

Turnovers: 12 SU – 8 JHU

Caused Turnovers: 5 SU – 11 JHU

Nothing good about the above. Figure this, Hopkins had one more goal than Syracuse had shots on net.

No matter what though, we’ll always have this from Luke Schwasnick:

The Jays got off to a three 3-0 lead but the Orange stayed with the Jays, getting two straight goals split over the first and second periods. Syracuse continued to battle but with 2:16 remaining in the half SU began to let it get away. Four straight goals in just over two minutes of play to finish out the half and then a fifth to open up the third quarter.

David Lipka broke up the streak with the third goal of the day for SU but the Orange couldn’t build any momentum allowing another five straight goals the Hop. Stephen Rehfuss was able to get a goal to cap off the third quarter, leaving the score 13-4 Hopkins.

Two five goal runs, that’s the long and short of it.

Nate Solomon served his one game suspension this week and while it certainly had an effect on things, you can’t blame what happened on that. Offensively, SU attacked the net early but as the game moved along it just didn’t have the ball for long periods of time. Blame it on turnovers or faceoffs but it was a familiar story. Jamie Trimboli had a hat trick and David Lipka had two of his own.

No Syracuse junior or senior scored on Saturday. To me this offense has a bunch of younger guys that have really gotten better but haven’t figured out exactly how to lead yet. I think this team is going to be very, very good next year but this is an absolute learning year.

Turnovers continue to be an issue with SU coughing up 12 including four in the second and four in the third. The difference in this game compared to the prior four was that 11 of the 12 turnovers were forced turnovers as opposed to say last week when SU gave up six unforced turnovers and three weeks ago against Albany when it coughed up seven unforced. The turnovers aren’t the real root of the problem here though; once again it all comes back to the X.

The faceoff game will continue to be a problem moving forward. Danny Varello went 9-22 with three faceoff violations, Seth Delisle had one win on five attempts and redshirt sophomore Nick Martin went 0-1. In the first half SU went three for 11. In the final 2:16 of the half, a time span in which the Jays had four goals, SU lost four faceoffs and did not touch the ball. You win one of those and you avoid that streak completely. This year, SU has given up 17 or more faceoff wins its opponent three times. When it loses, the Orange are a sub .360 faceoff team. This squad is going to have problems winning if it can’t take the battle at the X, and it can’t.

Defensively, the Orange once again took the field without Tyson Bomberry but got off to a pretty decent start before falling apart. The interior defense was relatively non-existent for long periods of time. Guys were able to shoot on or just off the crease and without getting touched. To be fair however, the Jays had long stretches of possession and that wears heavily on a defensive unit, and I there were a few short sticks who made the defense look bad. Additionally, I thought the man-down unit played well, breaking up a two-man down situation and not allowing a goal on three extra man opportunities for Hopkins.

Dom Madonna continues to be the most consistent player on this team. If not for some crazy point blank saves from the former transfer, Hopkins could have easily put up four more. He had an exceptional first half and came off of that a little bit in the second with a few questionable goals but the kid faced a constant barrage, especially in the third period. Drake Porter did get some time in net, only facing one shot which was a no look goal from Jake Fox. Nothing really to take away from his short stint in net.

In the other crease, Brock Turnbaugh might have had his best game of the year matching Madonna’s 10 saves.

This schedule, while it could be a back breaker, could also provide redemption. There are plenty of opportunities for Syracuse to rebound and next week that opportunity will come against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a 1 p.m. Sunday game.