Syracuse gets much needed win over Johns Hopkins
Photo by Dan Kekis
In a thrilling back-and-forth battle at the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse secured a hard-fought 13-10 victory over No. 7 Johns Hopkins on Sunday. A dominant second-half effort at the face-off X by Johnny Mullen helped fuel Syracuse's late push, as they claimed their second consecutive win and a much-needed boost in the rankings.
On the first Orange possession of the game after a missed bounce shot from the Blue Jays, Billy Dwan takes it from mid-field on a fast break and assists Joey Spallina on his first goal of the day. Next possession, Michael Leo scores his first goal of the day, unassisted, 2-0.
Early in the first quarter the Orange defense was strong even when Billy Dwan picked up a cross check penalty, the man down defense did not give up a score. But on the offensive end on two different occasions in the first quarter the offense could not capitalize when man-up.
The Orange eventually pushed the lead to 3-0, capitalizing on great man down defense and Johns Hopkins lack of ground ball ability. Owen Hiltz scores his first of the day assisted by Tyler Cordes. But this would quickly be matched by a three goal run from Johns Hopkins in a two minute span. Johns Hopkins then took the lead at 4-3, before Owen Hiltz finally stopped the bleeding for the Orange, scoring his second of the day tying it at four-even.
This was followed by another instance of not-so-great man-up offense from the Orange. The Blue Jays managed to pick up a 2-minute full time serve penalty for a direct hit to the head on a Luke Rhoa attempt at attacking the goal. The Orange turned the ball over and picked up a slashing penalty of their own in a scramble for the ground-ball.
"They got their sticks in the lanes, they made a couple plays. We got shots, we didn't finish. You know, that happens. The same way, the other way, you play good D, they play great D, they got one goal out of five. That's a pretty good job," said Coach Gary Gait
Both teams started off scoreless for seven minutes into the second quarter Tyler Cordes found his way into the net after already having a few assists on the day. Cordes' goal also gave the Orange the lead for the first time since 3-0. Johns Hopkins quickly tied it up at the six minute mark. And then Johns Hopkins scored again to take the lead 6-5 with a minute to go before the half.
It is no secret that the Orange have struggled in the third quarter of games this season. Sunday did not look to be much different.
To open the third quarter, Luke Rhoa scored at the nine minute mark, six-even. But Johns Hopkins quickly took the lead back at 7-6 before scoring again making it 8-6. Fans in the Dome were stunned, it had fallen silent. Until 1:48 left to play in the third when Tyler Cordes found the net, 8-7. Marking two goals and two assists for him on the day. Then at the 1:12 mark, Michael Leo tied it up and the crowd began to find life again, 8-8. Finally, for the third goal in under a minute, Joey Spallina scored at the :57 mark to take the lead, 9-8.
"I scored in the hidden ball trick and I think it's just just a next man up kind of thing," said Spallina. "And I think that makes me feel good, come playoff time, knowing that we have so many guys on this team that can contribute and kind of play their part."
After struggling to win a single face-off in the first half. Johnny Mullen opened up the second half going 6-0 during this run.
"I' known that Johnny Mullins a competitor and he just took a couple of deep breaths and stayed focused and we were in the game still, down one goal at half and went 9 for 13 in the second half and gave us that opportunity to make the run and score some goals, and that was key," said Coach Gait.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter Johns Hopkins tied the game, 9-9. At the eight minute mark Owen Hiltz scored his third goal of the day taking back the lead, 10-9. But Johns Hopkins again would quickly respond, 10-10.
Two goals in 30 seconds run by the Orange looked like the start to the end for Johns Hopkins. For the first, Owen Hiltz tossed to Luke Rhoa who calmly stepped down and fired a lefty underhand to take back the lead for the Orange. Rhoa's second goal of the day. 30 seconds later Owen Hiltz scores his fourth of the day to put the lead up two, assisted by Joey Spallina.
"Our ball movement, and then just running through the ball, doing the fundamentals right, kind of just allowed me to get my hands free. And I just placed it where the goalie wasn't," said Hiltz.
Johns Hopkins would never truly respond while Sam English found Michael Leo for Leo's third goal of the day, pushing the lead to three with two minutes left, ending the game at 13-10.
Sunday marked the Orange's second win in a row, since losing to back to back ranked opponents in Maryland and Harvard. Johns Hopkins being ranked seven before this should definitely move the Orange back up a few spots. But, how much grace voters will give after seeing the Orange dismantled twice against ranked opponents remains to be seen.
The Orange will be back in the Dome next week, March 18th against Manhattan.
