Syracuse 21 - Binghamton 4: The Orange put on a show

It took almost 27 minutes before Binghamton Bearcats found the back of the net, that about sums up today’s tilt between the Syracuse Orange and Binghamton.

The Orange finished up with a 21-4 win over BU, in a dominant performance that showcased a much questioned offense. SU got of to a 13-0 start with goals from nine different players. All in all, 12 Syracuse players hit nylon with 13 picking up at least a point.

At a certain point you really started to feel for the Binghamton goalies, of which three played. The defense in front of them was questionable, but given how much these guys played in their own zone it’s tough to really get on them.

I’m not going to hash through every goal or do any play by play, let’s just talk about what we learned.

Brendan Bomberry had a massive day with five goals and one assist. But we know about him and we know he can be explosive. Fellow attackman Stephen Rehfuss had a hatty and five points overall while Nate Solomon had two goals and an assist. Bomberry can be explosive, and he brings a lot more than points to the table. He will not have five goals every game, so this team will really rely on Rehfuss.

Maybe we are just pessimistic by nature as Syracuse fans, but dang, this attack put a lot of preseason questions to bed.

I think one of the things most fans were really interested to see was the goalie situation. Dom Madonna came to Syracuse as a transfer from division II Merrimack College. The Liverpool native took eight shots overall, allowing four goals. On the surface that doesn’t sound great but keep in mind two of those goals were extra man opportunities for Binghamton. Overall, I thought it was a really nice opening performance for Madonna who played three quarters on Saturday. The one nit picky point is the rebounds. He gave up two early on in the game and that’s one of those things that can really burn you against a good team. Madonna had some big saves early and I certainly feel comfortable with him, I just want to see more minutes. Drake Porter took over in the fourth quarter and picked up two saves before Willie Klan got about three minutes. It was not Porter’s first time in net for the Orange, he did play a few minutes in 2017 but he looked very comfortable.

In terms of special teams, the clearing was fantastic but that’s one of those things that SU has done very well in the last few years. I’m not concerned about the four penalties, one was a young guy getting a little aggressive and the others weren’t anything to write home about. There was complete domination in the groundball game as SU picked up 43 against BU’s 13.

We also had a very nice day at the faceoff X, another area where there has been some questions. Danny Varello took 15-17 with nine groundballs in an a statement game for him. This is Danny’s faceoff circle now. I was a little concerned about the three three turnovers he coughed up, but two of them were in the first quarter so hopefully that’s just first game nerves. Seth Delisle, a transfer from Nazareth, went 4-4 at the X before giving up two straight to finish 4-6. He’s a proven guy and will be a great backup. It might be hard to believe, but this team has the potential to be stronger at the faceoff X than last year’s.

It was nice to see some of the young guys, Brendan Curry looked locked and loaded and had no issues letting a few fly. I want to see more from him but I’m not sure yet how he fits in. Redshirt freshman David Lipka also stepped into the spotlight with a goal and an assist. I was also impressed with Lucas Quinn in his first game. He had a goal from deep for his first and picked up his second after getting his defender to trip up while throwing a fake, taking another step and ripping a corner. There are some pretty significant expectation with Quinn but he looks like he’s comfortable. Another freshman, Tucker Dordevic, picked up a goal and an assist in his first collegiate game.

All in all, not a lot of issues with today. I have some new questions but I am way more comfortable now. We have a faceoff grouping, we have some talented freshman, and we have a goalie or two. Things are going to be ok.

Syracuse has a huge game next Saturday when it hosts the Albany Great Danes at 2 PM. This is the game when we will really see who this team is so tune in and let’s have some fun.