Syracuse 17 - Hobart 11: The SU defense holds off 53 Statesmen shots to keep the Kraus-Simmons

The Hobart Statesmen fell to the Syracuse Orange 17-11 in Geneva, NY on Wednesday night remaining in control of the Kraus-Simmons Trophy. For the first time in eight games, the Orange were able to walk off of the field after winning by more than just one goal.

SU got off to a 2-0 start on a Brendan Bomberry goal 39 seconds into the game on an assist from Nick Mariano. Marinano backed that up with an unassisted goal. Off of the ensuing faceoff, Frank Brown kicked off the scoring for ‘Bart and got the first of his three goals on the night.

The next two came from Jordan Evans and Brad Voigt, the second of which was a man-up goal on a 30 second EMO opportunity off of a holding call on Hobart. Voigt filled in for Solomon at attack for some significant time in the second half and had two goals and an assist on the night.

The Statesmen battled back and put up a duo of goals of its own to end the first quarter down 4-3.

Syracuse had five second period goals, three of which came off the crosse of Nate Solomon. With 6:14 left in the half, Solomon caught the ball on the wing, dipped behind two sliding defenseman and was able to get the shot off while hitting the turf. The sophomore got up and said something to a Hobart defenseman causing the ref to immediately throw an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on him. We did not see him for the rest of the first half but the sophomore tied a career high in goals on Wednesday with four.

The half ended with Syracuse up 9-5 and looking to pull away, but Hobart wasn’t done yet. The Statesmen came out of the break with two straight goals from Frank Brown and Max Romm. Syracuse came right back and put up two more from Solomon and Brendan Bomberry. The Bomberry goal was a complete defensive breakdown from the Hobart defense. Somehow the Syracuse transfer found himself on the crease with no Hobart defenseman anywhere near him. Mariano was able to get him a pass from the wing for an easy goal to put SU up 11-7.

Sean Donnelly got the next one for Hobart, cutting through the center of the box getting a pass from Frank Brown behind the net. HWS followed that up with two penalties, a slashing call followed by an illegal body checking penalty. Syracuse’s Nick Mariano was able to score on both man-up situations sending big time rips into the net. When you give this kid time and room, he is deadly. Mariano tied a career high with four goals and also added three assists to his totals. Most impressive, the Orange went 5-5 in extra man opportunities while holding Hobart 0-4.

Hobart came into the fourth down 13-8 but with gas still left in the tank. The Statesmen caught a break at 12:24 into the final period. Frank Brown cut to the goal and tried a behind-the-back shot which bounced off of a Syracuse defenseman and landed in the stick of long-pole Christopher Willman who put away his first of the season on an open net.

For much of the opening minutes of the fourth Syracuse was unable to gain a sustained possession, barely hanging on to the ball for the first seven minutes. During the fourth Hobart put up 22 shots but just 11 on net. Tanner Hall was finally able to capitalize with a deep shot cutting the Syracuse lead to just three with 8:52 to go in the game.

Syracuse turned it around though on a 3-0 stretch with two goals from Jamie Trimboli and a man-up goal from Brendan Bomberry. Max Romm finished off the scoring for Hobart before Syracuse freshman Riley O’Sullivan got the first of his SU career with 39 seconds to go.

Once again, the Syracuse defense came to play, highlighted by Evan Molloy’s career high 17 saves. His play may have been overshadowed, however, by Hobart’s Jackson Brown who had just nine saves but a spectacular night in net.

At the faceoff X, Ben Williams went 17-28 but still does not look as good as he has in the past two years. Danny Varello went 0-2 while Joe DeMarco went 0-1.

The Orange did not have a good game in terms of holding on to the ball. 14 turnovers is just one shy of tying a season high. Defenseman Andrew Helmer was responsible for three of those turnovers while Solomon and Mariano had two each.

Senior Sergio Salcido was held without a goal for the third time this season but had four assists in the game.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but after a big win at Notre Dame this had the potential to be a trap game. It’s always nice to walk away from this game with a win, no matter in what form it comes.

The Cornell Big Red is up next on Tuesday followed by a visit to the North Carolina Tar Heels ten days from now. Short weeks eh?