Ben Williams won 18-of-29 faceoffs in the Orange’s 14-13 win over Virginia.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Behind five-point efforts from Tim Barber and Dylan Donahue, the No. 3 Syracuse men's lacrosse team (4-0, 1-0 ACC) passed their first ACC and road tests of 2016 in a 14-13, back-and-forth battle at Virginia (2-3, 0-1 ACC) to defeat the Cavaliers 14-13 at Klockner Stadium.
Barber netted a hat trick and added a pair of assists, while Donahue had two goals and three helpers in the win. Derek DeJoe and Nick Mariano each had hat tricks, while Sergio Salcido (two goals and two assists) and Jordan Evans (one goal and one assist) each turned in multi-point performances as well.
Warren Hill made a career-high 13 saves in net for the Orange to preserve the win for Cuse, while Brandon Mullins was solid on defense as well, causing three turnovers and collecting three ground balls.
Ben Williams won 18-of-29 faceoffs as well for Cuse.
"Over the years it's always been fast paced and ther's lots of one and two goal games, and we didn't expect anything different," said head coach John Desko. "It was a good win for us, with only four ACC games, to get the first one is always comforting."
DeJoe got the scoring started less than a minute into action, when he beat his defender and fired a shot across cage into the top-left corner.
Donahue then got into the scoring off a feed from Barber, by firing a blast past UVA goaltender Matt Barrett. with 7:11 to play in the first. Just 37 seconds later, DeJoe scored again, this time after Jordan Evans caused a turnover behind the net, DeJoe collected the ground ball and scored on a low shot to open up a 3-0 lead.
The Hoos came right back though, going on a 3-0 run of their own, with goals from Ryan Conrad, Mike D'Amario and James Pannell in the stretch. The D'Amario tally came on UVA's second man-up opportunity of the day. Virginia scored four extra man goals in the contest as Syracuse was penalized seven times in the contest.
Barber wouldn't let the first quarter end tied though, as he scored his first of the day on a feed from Derek DeJoe with 1:46 to play in the frame.
Pannell and Zed Williams scored goals to open the second and give Virginia its first lead at 5-4 with 12:13 to go before halftime, but Barber then scored on a pass from Salcido to even things up once again at five.
The teams traded goals from Virginia's Matt Emery and Evans before a Barber goal with 4:34 before the break gave 'Cuse the lead for good and Mariano tacked on his first to put the Orange up 8-6 with 2:39 left before halftime.
The Cavaliers got one back from Pannell before halftime and Cuse went to the locker room with an 8-7 lead.
After Donahue and AJ Fish traded goals to open the third, Cuse went on a 4-0 run to open up its largest lead of the game at 13-8 with 13 minutes to play. Salcido scored twice, with DeJoe and Mariano scoring one apiece in the run.
The Hoos wouldn't go quietly thoug, scoring four-straight of their own to pull back to within one at 13-12 with just over eight minutes remaining.
Mariano finally halted the run with 6:12 to go. Virginia got one back, but Hill and the Orange defense stood tall to open ACC play with a win.
Next, Syracuse returns to the Carrier Dome on Saturday, March 12, when the Orange hosts St. John's.
