Back and forth, back and forth, that’s what the lacrosse game St. John’s played against Syracuse was like.
The red storm went on to play a great game against the No.6 ranked Syracuse Lacrosse who has 13 consecutive Big East victories, but came up short, losing 9-8 this Saturday.
The game started off slow, but the tone was set early by Colin Keegan, who scored the first goal head on with several Orange men in his way, a repeat of the previous weeks Siena game.
“It was a tough shot”, Keegan admitted, “but it went in, not sure if it set the tone of the game though”
This was his 5th goal of the season, which he made with only 3 seconds left in the man-up,due to a key turnover which he took advantage of.
Syracuse wouldn’t take this in stride, as Kevin Drew and Derek Maltz answered back, with 1 goal for the former, and 2 by the latter, all scored with less than 4 minutes remaining in the 1st period. Even after a key save and stellar defense by senior Red Stormer Harrison Freid, the Orange got into a groove.
“Our defense was okay, coulda been better though, a lot of moments were up in the air “said Harrison Freid ,who played the best game of his St.John’s career so far with 4 ground balls.
The mixed crowd of fans erupted in both anger and pride in reaction to Maltz,scoring his 8th and 9th goal of the season.
This wasn’t before Terrence Leach made his first goal less than a minute into the 2nd period. Harry Kutner took a wild shot as Syracuse played tough defense, Leach was able to skillfully recover it,and chuck it in for the easy point as the Orange goalie dove for the save.
Leach shared a hat trick with team mate Cernuto, who scored his first goal with around 8 minutes left in the 2nd period.
After a fast break down field, Kieran Mcardle jetted to the right of the field before he quickly tossed the ball to Cernuto, coming straight down the middle. The ball didn’t stay in his possession for more than a second before he threw it so hard he lost his balance.
“That was a crazy moment, I was going so fast, it was kind of like an automatic reaction,just shoot” Cernuto said, who was a catalyst in the 2nd half and only missed 1 shot.
Cernuto scored his 7th goal of the season seconds later due to another great assist, by Jordan Rothman who won the face-off. The 1st half ended with momentum being in the Red Storms’ favor with a 1 point lead, but the 2nd half was an all out battle.
“The second half was really intense, but I think we did okay under pressure”,said Leach who made 3 of his 7 attempted shots.
Leach would soon get another great assist, before Syracuse exploded.
It began with Tim Desko and DerekMaltz of the Orange burying in several goals within a few minutes, putting them up 8-6,but the Red storm tried their hardest to fight back.
“A lot was going through my mind. It was a really tough game man, really high energy , a lot of work in the back half”, said Henry Kutner,who was only 20% from the field.
Harry Kutner would answer back with a man up goal, and impressive shot by Cernuto would follow, as he flew from behind the net ,and shot the ball without a clear look in sight right through the goalies legs, to tie the game at 8.
The Orange responded by scoring their winning goal with less than 2 minutes left, after Red storm goalie Jeff Lowman would fumble an easy recovery.
“ I knew coming in that this would be a tough one,’cuse is good, Said Jeff Lowman, who tied his season high of 15 saves, ”but we lost no matter how you bill it”
The Red Storm is now (0-1) in the big east, and go on to face Stony Brook this Tuesday.
