SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The University at Albany men’s lacrosse team was overwhelmed by a Syracuse University offensive attack in its’ 2023 season opener at JMA Wireless Dome Friday night. The Danes fell 20-7 as three Orange players recorded hat tricks.

Key Stats

Head Coach Scott Marr: “Give Syracuse credit, they shot the lights out of the ball.  Their offense played very well.  I thought it was different for us, I didn’t think we shot very well early on, and we didn’t get too many saves.  There were a lot of breakdowns for us but a lot of positives as well.  I thought we played hard, and we had some opportunities, we just didn’t bury the ball.  We’ll regroup this week and get back at it next weekend.”

How it Happened

  • Syracuse scored first, just 35 second after the opening faceoff, when Owen Hiltz assisted Jackson Birtwistle to put the Orange up 1-0 early.
  • Elijah Gash, playing from his new position in the midfield, responded quickly, finding the back of the net less than a minute late to tie the game at one.
  • Syracuse rolled off each of the next five goals to take a 6-1 lead early in the second quarter.  The Orange’s run faltered when two UAlbany freshmen, Silas Richmond and Alex Pfeiffer, scored their first career goals back-to-back to bring the Great Danes within three with 10:26 remaining in the second quarter.
  • Syracuse responded with a three-goal run, before Graydon Hogg got on the board with just under 27 seconds remaining before the break.  Syracuse took a 9-4 lead into halftime.
  • Jack Pucci scored his first of two games on a man-up with 13:06 remaining in the third.  Syracuse rallied with two-straight to take an 11-5 lead
  • After a Syracuse penalty, Richmond scored his second goal of the evening, bouncing his shot off a deflection over Syracuse goalkeeper Will Mark to bring the score within five.
  • Two more goals for Syracuse led to Pucci’s second goal of the evening off a setup from Declan Palandjian.  It was UAlbany’s final goal of the game.
  • Syracuse closed the night scoring seven unanswered, and shutting out the Great Danes in the fourth quarter.  The Orange ultimately held advantages of 17-12 on faceoffs, 15-9 in saves, and 34-25 in ground balls.  Total shots were even, with a slight edge to Syracuse, 43-42, after UAlbany outshot the Orange 15-8 over the final 15 minutes.

Next: UAlbany hosts its first of 10 regular-season home games in 2023, welcoming 2022 national runner-up Cornell to Casey Stadium on February 18.