ORANGE RALLIES PAST RUTGERS, 12-11

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Junior Derek Maltz (Ashburn, Va.) scored with 10 seconds left to lift No. 8 Syracuse (9-2, 3-1 BIG EAST) to a 12-11 win against Rutgers (2-11, 0-5 BIG EAST) on Saturday, April 13 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange erased a five-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to extend its home winning streak to six games.

Midfielders Luke Cometti (Syracuse, N.Y.) and JoJo Marasco (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), who were both honored in a Senior Day ceremony before the game, combined for 13 points in the victory. Cometti tallied a career-high six goals and added one assist to finish with a personal-best seven points. Marasco contributed one goal and matched his career high with five assists. He also forced a turnover with less than a minute remaining that led to Maltz’s winning goal.

“We almost expected a game like this, having three games in one week,” SU head coach John Desko said. “We were able to come back against Princeton at their place and then prepare for Cornell on Wednesday night – another one-goal game. I thought we came out flat today. I don’t want to take anything away from Rutgers. I thought they played well and shot well. We just didn’t come in with that same intensity that we had two games ago, so to get out of here with a ‘W’ was good.”

The Orange trailed nearly the entire game and faced a 10-5 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter before going on one of its patented scoring runs. SU netted five goals in the span of 8:40 and just like that the game was tied. Cometti scored four times in the stretch, twice on passes from Marasco.

An unassisted goal by Anthony Terranova restored a one-goal advantage for the Scarlet Knights before Maltz answered with 2:04 left to knot the score, 11-11.

Maltz’s equalizer set the stage for Marasco who made the play of the day by running the length of the field to chase down Rutgers defender Andrew Parrilla on a fastbreak with about 30 seconds left. Marasco dove and knocked the ball out of Parrilla’s stick. Orange senior defenseman Brian Megill (Clark, N.J.) picked it up and streaked the other way. Megill gained the offensive zone and dished to Maltz who buried the deciding to goal to complete the comeback.

“I just saw their guy (Parrilla) was breaking,” Marasco said of his crucial caused turnover. “I put my head down and tried to run as fast as I could. I figured I was going to dive. I just tried not to trip him, you know take a penalty, because then they’d have the ball with 30 seconds left. I was able to get my stick on his stick and Megill is one of the best at picking up ground balls. He realized the time, picked it up and he was able to run down the field and make a great pass to Maltz.”

Overall, the duo of Cometti and Maltz teamed up to outscore the Scarlet Knights 7-1 in the fourth quarter. Cometti finished with four goals in the period and all three of Maltz’s goals in the game came in the final 15 minutes.

In addition to the trio of Cometti, Maltz and Marasco, freshman faceoff specialist Cal Paduda (Madison, Conn.) contributed significantly to the Orange rally. Joseph Nardella had won 13-of-17 faceoffs for Rutgers in the first three quarters, but Paduda kept him in check in the final period, winning four of the quarter’s nine draws. Paduda also tied up Nardella on the game’s last faceoff, not allowing the Scarlet Knights another offensive opportunity.

For Rutgers, Terranova and Scott Klimchak combined for seven of the team’s 11 goals. Terranova had four goals and added one assist to finish with a team-best five points. Klimchak scored three goals on the day, all in the third quarter, to help stake the Scarlet Knights to the five-goal lead they eventually squandered.

Syracuse outshot Rutgers for the game, 43-27. Defensively, the Orange recorded a season-high 13 caused turnovers and Rutgers finished with 21 total turnovers to 10 for Syracuse.

Nardella won 18 of the game’s 26 faceoffs as the Scarlet Knights held an 18-8 in advantage in that category. They also owned a 37-34 margin in ground balls.

Syracuse plays its last regular-season home game Tuesday, April 16 when it welcomes Hobart to the Carrier Dome. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

Game Notes: Ten members of the Orange program, including Cometti, Marasco and Megill were recognized prior to the game as part of Senior Day … The Orange is now 23-2 all-time against Rutgers at home … Marasco’s five assists raised his season total to 27, which ranks fourth on the SU season list for most assists by a midfielder (since 1979) … Cometti’s six goals were the most for Orange player this season … Cometti has 10 goals in the past two games and leads Syracuse with 21 on the year … SU has won three straight one-goal decisions and is 4-2 in one-goal games this season.