Early Saturday morning, Albany Great Danes attackman Tehoka Nanticoke tweeted the following.
Last year in his collegiate debut, Nanticoke scored five goals on 15 shots as the Great Danes dominated the Orange 15-3.
Fast forward a year later, and it was a different story. Bradley Voigt was the one feeling dangerous for Syracuse, scoring a career-high six goals as the Syracuse Orange would run away from the Great Danes 13-5 in front of 4,904 spectators. Voigt’s six goals were the most goals scored by an Orange since Dylan Donahue scored seven against Notre Dame in 2015.
Albany made it a game early with goals from Nanticoke, Noah Taylor, and Sean Eccles in the opening quarter. But a pair of tallies from Voigt, along with goals from Jamie Trimboli and Nate Solomon gave Cuse a 4-3 lead after the first quarter. Solomon’s goal started a 5-0 Syracuse run that would end with Nanticoke’s second goal as SU led 8-4 at half.
The third quarter was a very defensive quarter, with Voigt scoring the lone goal. After Noah Taylor’s second of the game, the Orange would end on a 4-0 run en route to the victory.
Scoring and Stats
ALBANY
A Tehoka Nanticoke (2 Gs, 2 GBs, 1 CT)
M Noah Taylor (2 Gs)
M Sean Eccles (1 G)
A Jakob Patterson (1 A, 2 GBs, 1 CT)
M Kyle Casey (1 A, 1 GB)
A Teioshontathe McComber (1 A, 1 GB)
D Matt Perla (1 CT)
LSM Doug Goldsmith (1 CT)
FOGO Austin Jones (10-of-16 FOs, 2 GBs)
G Nate Siekierski (16 saves, 1 GB)
SYRACUSE
A Bradley Voigt (6 Gs, 1 A, 3 GBs)
M Brendan Curry (2 Gs, 3 As, 2 GBs, 1 CT)
M Jamie Trimboli (1 G, 1 A, 3 GBs)
M Pat Carlin (1 G, 1 A)
A Nate Solomon (1 G, 2 GBs)
M Jacob Buttermore (1 G)
A Basil Aburn (1 G)
A Stephen Rehfuss (1 A)
M Justin Kim (1 A)
D Tyson Bomberry (3 CTs, 7 GBs)
D Marcus Cunningham (3 CTs)
SSDM Peter Dearth (2 CTs, 2 GBs)
SSDM Luke Schwasnick (1 CT, 4 GBs)
LSM Brett Kennedy (1 CT, 4 GBs)
SSDM Grant Murphy (1 CT, 1 GB)
FOGO Danny Varello (6-of-13 FOs, 2 GBs)
FOGO Jake Phaup (4-of-6 FOs, 3 GBs)
G Drake Porter (12 saves, 1 GB)
G Luke Strang (2 saves, 1 GB)
Notes and Nuggets
- As mentioned, Voigt had a career game with six goals. The senior has a quick release to his shots, think of it like a one-time shot in hockey.
- The big takeaway was from the Orange defense. Tyson Bomberry covered Nanticoke was again and limited him to only two goals on four shots. The big thing was Syracuse double-teaming the sophomore and being more physical overall. Nick Mellen guarded Jakob Patterson and completely shut him off. Patterson had just one assist on five shots. Albany committed 17 turnovers.
- It was also a little physical at times. Here’s some examples.
They said lacrosse was soft pic.twitter.com/qpCwAEjymQ
— Dan Aburn (@Dan_Aburn) February 16, 2019
Grant Murphy coming in at full speed just CRUSHING Corey Yunker from earlier today. pic.twitter.com/oy2HGIVx9C
— Chris Jastrzembski (@CFJastrzembski) February 17, 2019
- It also included another controversial call on the dive. This was Nanticoke’s second goal.
Another dive attempt from Nanticoke, and the refs say this one counts, stirring frustration for the Cuse staff: pic.twitter.com/UWWgnoLwpS
— Dan Aburn (@Dan_Aburn) February 16, 2019
This looked tough. Brett Kennedy did lay his hands and stick on Nanticoke’s back. He got called for a push. The ball went into the net before Nanticoke made contact with Drake Porter. But Nanticoke dove towards the goal mouth and not away from it. The crease dive was expected to bring more excitement, but it may have become a larger headache for officials and even fans for what’s legal and what’s not.
- Syracuse nearly doubled Albany in ground balls, 44-24. They also had the shot advantage (48-34 and 29-19 for shots on goal) and went 3-of-7 on extra-man opportunities. A much better performance from a week ago.
- The Orange lost in the faceoff battle by a single draw. Danny Varello went 6-of-13 while Jake Phaup went 4-of-6. Nate Garlow lost both draws so technically Syracuse won the draw battle. But does winning the faceoff battle make a difference in the new shot clock era? Villanova went 7-of-25 on draws against TD Ierlan and Yale but still won in overtime. Teams will get the ball and get plenty of chances to score. I think the importance of the faceoff has slightly decreased.
- Quick injury note: Jared Fernandez didn’t suit up. He played last week against Colgate. Not sure why he missed Saturday’s game.
What’s Next?
The Orange host the Army West Point Black Knights next Sunday at 4 PM on ACC Network Extra. Army beat UMass and Rutgers to go 2-0 on the year.
Expect the top 20 polls to come out sometime on Monday. Syracuse might be in the 15-20 range yet again week, and this time I will rank the Orange in my top 20 for the Inside Lacrosse Media Vote when it comes out.