Veltman

Colburn

Baer

February 18, 2007

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Four unanswered goals late in the fourth quarter saved the third-ranked Syracuse lacrosse team from a second straight loss to Hobart College. The Orange rallied from an 11-9 hole to post a 13-11 victory in front of 5,252 fans at the Carrier Dome, reclaiming the Kraus-Simmons Trophy.

Junior attackman Daryl Veltman (Salisbury School/Georgetown, Ontario) and sophomore attackman Jeff Colburn (CNS/Liverpool, N.Y.) led the Statesmen (0-1) with two goals and two assists each. Attackman Dan Hardy paced the Orange (1-0) with three goals and two assists.

Junior midfielder Nick Currie (Corning East/Corning, N.Y.) gave Hobart the early lead, scoring on the game’s first shot just 30 seconds in with a laser from the right side of goalie Peter Coluccini (13 saves).

Senior goalie Brandon Baer (Locust Valley/Bayville, N.Y.) stopped the first two shots he faced, before Syracuse countered with back-to-back goals. Baer turned in a spectacular first start, recording 15 saves, including several from point-blank.

Veltman pulled the Statesmen even with a shot on the doorstep thanks to a behind the cage feed from junior Jamie Kirk (Salisbury School/Orangeville, Ontario). Less than two minutes later off an assist by first-year midfielder Mike Suits (CBA/Jamesville, N.Y.), Veltman put Hobart back in front with a sidearm shot from Coluccini’s right.

SU responded with three straight goals spanning the first and second quarters. The Orange equalized three seconds before the end of the opening frame, when 6-foot-5 attackman Dan Hardy ran from behind the cage, leaped in the air from the goal line and shot from 4 feet above the 5-foot-7 Baer’s head. Syracuse opened the second quarter scoring with back-to-back goals to take a 5-3 lead.

A near mirror image of their earlier connection, Kirk got Hobart back on track, dumping home a feed from Veltman. SU answered when midfielder Max Bartig came charging in on a substitution, unchecked, and scored from 5 yards out on a pass from Hardy to make it a 6-4 game.

Junior midfielder Sean Murphy (Bishop Timon-St. Jude/Buffalo, N.Y.) made it a 6-5 game with a great individual effort. Emerging from a scrum in front of the Hobart bench, the co-captain raced 30 yards to the cage and beat Colluccini under his right elbow.

Syracuse scored the opening goal of the second half, but Colburn needed less than a minute to respond, collecting a rebound on the edge of the crease and burying his first score of the season. Less than two minutes later, Murphy made it a 7-all game, spinning off his defenseman and firing in a shot from 10-yards out.

The Orange went back in front on an extra-man goal by attackman Mike Leveille, but senior midfielder James Dussich (Manhasset/Manhasset, N.Y.) forged another tied, rifling home a shot through traffic and kick-starting a 3-0 run. Kirk netted an extra-man goal to give the Statesmen their first lead of the second half. Both tallies were set up by Colburn. The run continued when first-year midfielder Mike Lazore (Immaculate Heart/Carthage, N.Y.) posted his first Hobart goal off an assist by Veltman.

Perritt stopped the bleeding with a shot that ricocheted off Baer’s elbow across the goal line to close out the third quarter scoring.

Colburn put Hobart back in front by two with a frozen rope to the upper right corner of the cage with 13:17 remaining, but it proved to be the final score of the contest for the Statesmen.

Sixty-one seconds later, SU attackman Kenny Nims scoring on a tough catch and shoot made it 11-10. Hardy tied the game with 5:49 remaining with a blistering shot from 20 yards out. SU won the ensuing faceoff and took a quick shot that Baer saved, but an immediate turnover gave Leveille a shot on a wide open cage and the home team was back in front 12-11. Hardy rang the bell again with another hard shot to make it 13-11 with 4:21 to go.

Hobart held an 11-9 advantage on faceoffs entering the fourth quarter, but Syracuse turned things around in the final frame, winning five of six at the X. Junior faceoff specialist Dan Spinella (New Hartford/New Hartford, N.Y.) won 12 of 26 restarts.

The Statesmen had a 38-37 advantage on ground balls, led by sophomore midfielder Matt Smalley (Avon Old Farms/Cumberland, R.I.) and senior long-stick midfielder Matthew Ranaghan (Cape Elizabeth/Cape Elizabeth, Maine) with seven apiece. Defenseman Steve Panarelli collected a game-high eight for the Orange.

Hobart is back in action on Feb. 24, when the Statesmen take on Bucknell at the St. Paul’s School in Brooklandville, Md.