May 2, 2013
VILLANOVA, Pa. – No. 3 Syracuse seized control of the game with a 7-0 run that stretched from the second to fourth quarter en route to a 9-3 win over No. 5 Notre Dame in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship Thursday evening at Villanova Stadium.
Notre Dame (10-4), the tournament’s No. 3 seed, knotted the game, 2-2, on a Sean Rogers goal with 10:10 remaining in the second quarter. The Irish would then go scoreless for the next 35:19 of the contest.
Syracuse (12-3) netted three goals in a span of 1:49 late in the second quarter to claim a 5-2 lead at the intermission. The tallies came from Dylan Donahue, Hakeem Lecky and Kevin Rice. The second-seeded Orange outshot the Irish 22-10 in the opening half.
“They (Syracuse) were jamming the inside and taking the inside away from us and they were sliding quickly to our dodges from the top,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said. “We weren’t being patient enough and we aren’t staying disciplined through long possessions. When somebody packs the middle like that, you have to work to really get the shot you want. We either turned the ball over or settled in too many of the possessions before we got what we needed.”
Syracuse’s Derek Maltz deposited the only two scores of the third quarter and the Orange led 7-2 after three periods of play. The first goal was on a man-up situation.
The Orange surge continued on a Lecky goal that made it 8-2 with 10:39 remaining in the fourth quarter. Luke Cometti pushed the Syracuse advantage to seven (9-2) midway through the final period. Notre Dame’s Nick Ossello snapped the scoring drought with 4:51 left in the contest.
“We didn’t score on man-up today (0-of-2) and we had some really good transition opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of and then all of a sudden it feels like you’re playing uphill,” Corrigan said.
Syracuse took a 2-0 lead by the 6:40 mark of the first quarter on goals from Henry Schoonmaker and Rice. Following the goal from Rice, the Fighting Irish defense kept the Orange off the scoreboard for a span of 18:26. Tyler Kimball sliced the Syracuse lead in half (2-1) when he scored for the Irish with just over six minutes left in the opening quarter.
Senior goalie John Kemp made a season-high 15 saves for the Fighting Irish. Dominic Lamolinara had 10 stops and allowed two goals for Syracuse. The Orange held a 39-27 advantage in shots. Both teams won eight faceoffs.
The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship field will be announced at 9 p.m. (ET) Sunday on ESPNU. The full 16-team bracket will be posted on NCAA.com.
BIG EAST Championship Semifinal
May 2, 2013 – Villanova Stadium – Villanova, Pa.
#5 Notre Dame (10-4) – 1 1 0 1 – 3
#3 Syracuse (12-3) – 2 3 2 2 – 9
Notre Dame Scoring (goals-assists):
Sean Rogers 1-0, Tyler Kimball 1-0, Nick Ossello 1-0, Conor Doyle 0-1
Goalie: John Kemp (L, 60:00, 15 saves, 9 GA)
Syracuse Scoring (goals-assists):
Derek Maltz 2-2, Kevin Rice 2-0, Hakeem Lecky 2-0, Dylan Donahue 1-0, Luke Cometti 1-0, Henry Schoonmaker 1-0, JoJo Marasco 0-4
Goalies: Dominic Lamolinara (W, 52:30, 10 saves, 2 GA), Bobby Wardwell (7:30, 0 saves, 1 GA)
— ND —