Under the lights of the JMA Wireless Dome and thousands of boisterous Syracuse fans, Virginia hoped to extend a miracle-like turnaround that has defined the most recent part of their season. Against the Orange (10-3, 2-1 ACC), the Cavaliers (7-5, 2-1 ACC) looked different from the squad that led the team to back-to-back conference upsets, and lost to Syracuse 14-9.
Virginia did strike first, on a goal from sophomore attacker Ryan Duenkel in the opening seconds. A series of missed shots for both teams followed in the ensuing minutes. Following an offside penalty on Virginia, the Orange equalized on a man-up opportunity, and took the lead with another goal just 30 seconds later. Syracuse never relinquished that lead.
The only goal for the remainder of the quarter was another Syracuse shot to put the Orange up by two. That would not be for the lack of trying on the part of the Cavaliers, who outshot Syracuse in the first quarter 11-8. Virginia seemed not to be able to get past the seemingly impenetrable wall of senior goalie Jimmy McCool, and ended the quarter down 3-1.
The second quarter opened quietly, with the first goal not arriving until four minutes in. There was a flurry of goals from both teams in the remainder, and the Cavaliers were able to respond, out-scoring the Orange in the second quarter. Virginia entered the half still down, 7-6, but hoping to build out of the half with a closing-seconds goal from senior attacker Ryan Colsey.
Syracuse scored on slower-developing plays, like their shot to open the second half scoring. The Orange also scored on quicker possessions and deft passing, including one such score in their second goal of the third quarter. Syracuse scored right off the faceoff on a six-second possession that showed the momentum was firmly with a home team who had just finished a halftime celebration of former coach John Desko.
Although the Cavaliers now found themselves down 10-6, they were not finished fighting. Junior attacker McCabe Millon got one through for a Virginia goal, trimming the margin to three goals.
Syracuse scored a few minutes later, but Virginia scored right back on a man-up opportunity to keep the game competitive. The margin was trimmed even further with a goal from freshman attacker Brendan Millon, whose shot made the score 11-9.
Despite the two consecutive goals from the Cavaliers, the offense had seemed to have hit a wall. Virginia could not get past McCool. Following that final goal, the Cavaliers attempted 13 shots, but got none in.
“[McCool] wouldn’t stop making saves, [would] he?” Coach Lars Tiffany said.
Syracuse ultimately added two more goals in the waning minutes of the third quarter, and a singular goal in the fourth after a long, scoreless, back-and-forth battle. McCool finished with a save percentage of .640. Graduate student goalie Jake Marek, who had posted a save percentage over .500 in each of his last four starts, posted a pitiful save percentage of .176, only saving three goals.
In the second halves against Notre Dame and Duke, the Cavaliers outscored their opponents 6-3 and 9-4, respectively. That did not occur for Virginia Saturday, as Virginia was outscored 7-3 in the second half, not getting a single shot in the net in the final 18 minutes.
Virginia was not able to stifle the Syracuse offense Saturday. This was especially notable when the Orange worked from behind the goal, which worked greatly to their success and the Cavalier’s detriment.
“I want to give Syracuse credit,” Tiffany said. “I felt like their entire team had a greater sense of urgency … Syracuse’s offense is really, really difficult to stop.”
Virginia can still point to a bright spot in the team’s faceoff unit, which again won the faceoff battle 17-10. Junior Andrew Greenspan took the lion’s share of attempts, but all three Cavaliers that took faceoffs fared better than their Orange counterparts.
The Cavaliers will play again next week in their final game of conference play against North Carolina. Virginia will face the Tar Heels (10-2 , 2-1 ACC) at Klöckner Stadium in a match scheduled to face off at noon Saturday, April 18.
North Carolina will be coming off of a loss of their own, having lost 10-5 at Notre Dame. The game is sure to have tremendous implications for the ACC and NCAA tournaments come May, and will be streaming on ACC Network Extra.
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