by Warren Hill (Six Nations), transfer from Onondaga CC, gets some quality at the net
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Orange head coach John Desko picked up the 200th win of his career as No. 4 Syracuse (2-0) defeated No. 10 Cornell (0-1) by the score of 14-6 in the 100th meeting between the teams Sunday, Feb. 15 at the Carrier Dome.
Desko holds an overall record of 200-63 in his 17 seasons with the Orange and his .760 winning percentage is tops among active Division I coaches. Desko is the ninth active Division I coach and third Syracuse mentor to reach the 200-win plateau, joining Orange legends Roy Simmons Jr. (290 wins) and Roy Simmons Sr. (253 wins).
“I hadn’t really thought about it going into the game,” Desko said of win No. 200. “I’ve been here and worked with Roy Simmons Jr. for 19 years and when he retired I obviously took over for him and it’s great to still see him in the stands. I knew his dad, Roy Simmons Sr., very well. It’s great to be in the ballpark with guys like that.”
The Syracuse defense was the primary reason Desko was able to achieve the milestone in his first try. The Orange held the Big Red to one goal in the first half, and Cornell’s six total goals were its fewest in the series since 1994 (5). The Big Red turned the ball over 16 times in the game, 10 of which were forced by the Orange.
The combination of close defensemen Brandon Mullins and Sean Young shut out Cornell All-Americans Matt Donovan and Dan Lintner. Mullins guarded Donovan and picked two ground balls, while causing two turnovers. Mullins also made a diving save in the fourth quarter when Donovan tried to bat the ball into the empty Syracuse net following an Orange turnover.
Young marked Lintner and ended his 16-game, goal-scoring streak. Young also collected a career-high four ground balls and matched his personal best with three caused turnovers in the contest.
Offensively, Dylan Donahue paced Syracuse with five points (2 goals, 3 assists), including the 100th point of his career, which came when he scored the opening goal of the second quarter. Randy Staats (Six Nations) and Hakeem Lecky tallied three goals apiece. Staats added an assist to finish with four points.Nicky Galasso also had four points on two goals and two assists.
Staats and Donahue netted the first two goals of the game, and the Orange defense held the Big Red scoreless for the first 17:39 before John Edmonds got Cornell on the board with 12:21 to go in the first half.
It was all Syracuse after that. The Orange reeled off the next five goals, including a man-up tally by Derek DeJoe 16 seconds into the third quarter, to open up a 7-1 advantage.
Cornell responded with goals by Connor Buczek and Bradlee Lord 19 seconds apart to trim the SU lead to 7-3 at the 13:41 mark of the third, but the Orange scored five of the game’s next six goals to claim a 12-4 advantage and end any hope of a Big Red comeback.
Five of Cornell’s six goals were scored by midfielders. Buczek led the Big Red with three goals and Edmonds chipped in with two.
Orange goalie Bobby Wardwell made 10 saves in 56:53 to earn the win. Warren Hill (Six Nations) played 3:07 between the pipes for Syracuse and stopped two shots. Cornell netminder Christian Knight had 13 saves in a losing effort.
The Orange returns to action Sunday, Feb. 22 when its hosts Army inside the Carrier Dome. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.
