Strong First Quarter not Enough in loss to Army

Syracuse is dominated in the final three quarters as it drops season opener.

It had been 351 days since the Orange last played another team. Today the Syracuse men's lacrosse team came out firing against Army. Chase Scanlan got things going only thirty seconds into the game and Tucker Dordevic kept the offense going with a hat trick for himself in just the first half, Syracuse exploded with six goals in just the first quarter. The great offensive play ultimately came to a halt later on. The Orange found themselves down 8-7 after the first half, and in the second half things took a turn for the worst and Army began to capitalize. 

Bobby Abshire was on fire in the second half as well as Brendan Nichtern for Army, they each had four goals. The defense for the Orange was not as strong as it was in the first half, giving up ten goals in the second half. Offensively the Orange were not able to get anything done really in the second half as Army Goalie Wyatt Schupler had an impressive second half in the net combined with a strong Army defensive performance.

 A little bit of light was shed in the fourth quarter thanks to Stephen Rehfuss. Rehfuss had two pretty goals along with Brendan Curry’s first goal of the season that at one point put the Orange only down four in the final period. Ultimately the Army offense was too much to handle as Army’s attack challenged Drake Porter in the net making it very difficult for the Orange to come back.

“Even in our settled defense, we gave some easy backdoor cuts from the inside. That’s the kind of offensive shots that a goalie can’t save,” Said Coach Desko.

The Orange were beat in shots on goal, in favor of Army 31 to 23, Army also found themselves passing more than the Orange as they had eleven assists to the Orange five. The final score was 18-11 in favor of Army, but with a loss comes a lot of learning says Dordevic.

“We have a way to go, we have to learn from this stuff…learning the offense more and getting back to the basics,” Said Dordevic.

The Orange are back in action next Saturday against #3 Virginia in the Dome.