Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange stymie Hobart’s offense, take Kraus-Simmons Trophy with 17-5 win

Early on, it looked like the Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse team was going to be in a dogfight with the rival Hobart Statesmen.

After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Statesmen scored the opening goal in the second quarter before the Orange went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. It didn’t take long for Hobart to tie the game back up at five, but that would be it for the home team scoring. Syracuse’s defense stonewalled the Statesmen for the remaining 37:44 of the game and scored the final 12 goals en route to a 17-5 shellacking to keep the new look Kraus-Simmons Trophy in Syracuse.

Stephen Rehfuss had his best game yet this season with a pair of goals and three assists, while Nate Solomon scored once and assisted thrice, and Bradley Voigt and Jacob Buttermore potted hat-tricks. Drake Porter made 16 saves in 53:07.

Scoring and Stats

SYRACUSE

A Stephen Rehfuss (2 Gs, 3 As, 2 GBs)
A Nate Solomon (1 G, 3 As, 1 GB)
A Bradley Voigt (3 Gs, 5 GBs, 1 CT)
M Jacob Buttermore (3 Gs)
M Brendan Curry (1 G, 2 As, 1 GB)
M Jamie Trimboli (2 Gs, 1 GB)
M David Lipka (2 Gs)
M Matt Magnan (2 Gs)
M Justin Kim (1 G)
M Jake Nelson (1 A)
M Brad McKinney (1 A)

D Tyson Bomberry (1 CT, 5 GBs)
LSM Brett Kennedy (1 CT, 3 GBs)
LSM Jared Fernandez (1 CT, 2 GBs)
SSDM Spencer Small (1 CT, 2 GBs)
D Nick Mellen (1 CT, 1 GB)
LSM Austin Fusco (1 CT)
M/A Griffin Cook (1 CT)

FOGO Jake Phaup (13-of-20 FOs, 6 GBs)
FOGO Danny Varello (0-of-4 FOs)
FOGO Nate Garlow (0-of-2 FOs)
G Drake Porter (16 saves)
G Nate McPeak (2 saves)
G Willie Klan (1 save)

HOBART

M Derrek Madonna (3 Gs)
A Eric Holden (1 G, 2 As, 2 GBs, 1 CT)
M Bradley Simas (1 G)
A Jason Knox (1 A, 3 GBs)
M Tommy Mott (1 A, 1 GB)

D Michael Christiansen (2 CTs, 2 GBs)
SSDM Bryan Hancock (1 CT, 2 GBs)
LSM Frank Imburgia (1 CT)

FOGO Matthew Pedicine (13-of-26 FOs, 11 GBs)
G Sam Lucchesi (12 saves, 3 GBs, 1 CT)

Notes and Nuggets

• With the win, head coach John Desko recorded his 250th career victory as Orange head coach. He’s three behind Roy Simmons Sr.
• I wasn’t surprised with how the game started. It’s a rivalry game, and the Statesmen were going to come out with a ton of extra energy and stick around for a little.
• That being said, I thought the defense did an amazing job tonight even if they gave up five goals in the first quarter and a half. ‘Cuse is the first team to hold Hobart to less than 10 goals. An all-around solid effort from everyone in that department, headlined by Porter’s 16 saves.
• The Statesmen had a great first quarter, out-shooting the Orange 18-7. But they ended up with 23 total shots in the final three quarters, with their quarter total decreasing. The defense did a great job forcing Hobart to shoot and pass, and it also helped that the Statesmen committed some awful turnovers. The second half Hobart Statesmen were a much different team.
• As I mentioned above, this was Rehfuss’ best game yet. The Orange need performances like that from the redshirt-junior attackman. He’s definitely healthy now and can be what he was last season.
• Speaking of good games, it was great to see Buttermore get back on the score sheet. The sophomore was absent from the goal column since he scored a hat-trick against Johns Hopkins, only recording an assist on Saturday in the loss to Notre Dame.
• The personnel was pretty much the same until the score became more lopsided and Syracuse started to sprinkle in some of their reserves. But when the game was still a game, Troy Lauder got some runs as a short stick defensive midfielder and Lucas Quinn got a couple runs on a “hybrid” second midfield unit that included a couple members from the actual second midfield line.
• Playing this game can be helpful and hurtful for the Orange. Let’s start with the result that didn’t happen. If ‘Cuse lost, that would’ve been awful and could have possibly lost confidence and swagger heading into their next game on Tuesday against Cornell. But with the win, it helps the Orange gain some confidence and a little momentum. They can get a groove going in practice and feel a little comfortable going into another local rivalry game. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to see some of the reserves get some minutes in.

What’s Next?

The Orange don’t play this weekend, but resume play next Tuesday as they host the Cornell Big Red on Senior Day at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU. After that, Syracuse visits North Carolina to wrap up ACC play next Saturday.

The next top 20 polls will come out on Monday. It’s too early to tell where Syracuse might end up, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they sneak into the top 10 again.