NO. 9 SYRACUSE ROUTS CANISIUS IN LACROSSE, 17-5

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Behind a career performance by sophomore attackman Kevin Rice (Skaneateles, N.Y.), No. 9 Syracuse (6-2) recorded its 200th Carrier Dome victory with a 17-5 triumph against visiting Canisius (1-7) on Friday, March 29. Rice totaled six points on three goals and three assists to power the Orange past the Golden Griffins.

Rice scored all three of his goals in the opening half as the Orange built a 12-1 halftime lead and cruised to its fourth straight home win. The Orange is now 200-29 (.873) all-time at the Dome since it started playing the majority of its home games there in 1981.

After shooting 48.3 percent last week against Providence and Villanova, the Orange continued to sizzle against Canisius, converting on a season-high 51.5 percent of its shots (17-33). All told 10 different Orange players registered at least one point in the game and nine scored goals.

“Offensively, I thought we were pretty efficient,” SU head coach John Desko said. “I think we were shooting 50 percent going into halftime. I think when you are shooting 50 percent you’re happy with how the guys are shooting. In the third quarter we already had 16 goals. We wanted to be a little more patient offensively. This is a young (Canisius) team so we didn’t want to rub things in. I thought we took care of the ball and came out with a good win.”

In addition to Rice’s career night, SU received a season-high four goals from junior Derek Maltz (Ashburn, Va.) and two goals apiece from midfielders Ryan Barber (Camillus, N.Y.), Scott Loy (Toledo, Ohio) and Derek DeJoe (Fairport, N.Y.).

Rice, Barber and Loy combined for four unassisted goals in the first quarter to help the Orange get out to a 5-1 lead after the first 15 minutes.

The Orange added to its margin in the second period with two goals in the opening six minutes prompting a goalie change as Canisius starter Alex Govenettio was replaced by Nick Carrasco. Carrasco’s presence did nothing to deter SU’s shooters as Barber and sophomore Matt Walters (Villanova, Pa.) both scored less than two minutes after Carrasco came in to make it 9-1 Orange with 7:42 left in the half.

The Orange tacked on three more goals before halftime, including a blistering man-up tally from 12 yards out by DeJoe, to extend its advantage to 12-1 at the break.

In the third quarter, the Orange continued to pour it on. Syracuse recorded the first three goals of the second half before Brandon Bull scored the first Canisius goal in nearly 28 minutes to make it 14-2 at the 12:36 mark.

The SU margin eventually ballooned to 16-2 at the end of the third quarter and 17-3 in the early in the fourth before Canisius closed the game's scoring with consecutive goals.

Defensively, Syracuse limited Canisius to just 14 total shots. The Griffins also turned the ball over 22 times, eight of which were caused by the Orange. Redshirt senior David Hamlin (New Hartford, N.Y.) led the defensive effort with a career-best five caused turnovers and four ground balls.

SU junior Dominic Lamolinara (Arnold, Md.) made his third straight start in the cage. He played the first half, allowing one goal and making one save to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Griffins used four goaltenders in the contest. Govenettio played 29:39 and finished with one save. He allowed seven goals in the loss.

Tim Edwards, a native of nearby Jamesville, N.Y., totaled two goals and one assist for the Griffins. No other Canisius player finished with more than one point.

The Orange plays the first of two Ivy League foes Saturday, April 6 when it visits Princeton. Faceoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. on ESPNU.

Game Notes: The Orange improved to 2-0 all-time against Canisius and 4-0 all-time against MAAC teams … Redshirt freshman Tom Grimm (Black River, N.Y.) tallied his first career point with an assist in the third quarter … Rookie Paolo Ciferri (Ithaca, N.Y.) made his collegiate debut and picked up one ground ball … Redshirt freshman Alex Hatem (Syracuse, N.Y.) also saw his first career action and scored a goal in the fourth quarter … Syracuse improved to 6-0 this season when leading after the first quarter.