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Jakob Phaup won about half of his faceoffs on Saturday despite playing against one of the best units in the country. After a tough contest, the ball rolled just behind him at the faceoff X, and he scooped it up before lobbing a pass to Grant Murphy to start making the push upfield.

But Pat Kavanagh had different plans. He ran in between the two players and leaped as high as he could, holding his stick straight in the air. He timed his jump perfectly, and as if the ball was magnetically attracted to his stick, it landed right in the back of the pocket.

The Notre Dame crowd roared as the sophomore Tewaaraton Award nominee turned around and sank the ball past Drake Porter. Syracuse’s 4-3 lead had quickly turned into an 8-5 Notre Dame advantage as Kavanagh kicked his legs out and jumped up and down to celebrate the interception and goal that followed.

An 18-2 run by the No. 4 Fighting Irish (7-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) crushed any hope the No. 8 Orange (6-5, 2-4) had of an upset win to close conference play. A game that was back-and-forth for the first 15 minutes was already over in the ensuing 10. The Irish held the Orange to a scoreless quarter (third) for the second time this season and didn’t allow a goal again until the final three minutes of the game. Its 22 goals allowed are a season-high, while the eight scored are a season-low.

“It was just a breakdown in that second period,” head coach John Desko said. “We just gave up so many easy goals in the second period. Very disappointed in that.”

Syracuse looked to avoid a repeat of its seven-goal loss to Notre Dame four weeks ago in the Carrier Dome. And for a second, that seemed like it would be the case. Coming off of a 24-for-27 performance last weekend at Virginia, Phaup won the first faceoff of the game, beating out one of the best FOGOs in the conference in Kyle Gallagher.

Minutes later, Syracuse struck first off a sidearm shot by Owen Hiltz. A goal by Tucker Dordevic on the following possession gave Syracuse a two-goal lead four minutes into the game. Notre Dame responded with three, but Syracuse came right back.

With a 3-3 tie early in the second quarter, Notre Dame put pressure on Syracuse, looking to find another lead. A shot by Kavanagh went wide, and Porter saved another by Wheaton Jackoboice. Brett Kennedy ran upfield to clear the ball. He passed to Peter Dearth, who stood wide open on the other side of the midfield line. Dearth turned around, making note of the Notre Dame defender drawing near. He cut left, driving toward the net and scoring to give the Orange a 4-3 lead.

But seconds later, Notre Dame faceoff specialist Charles Leonard won the faceoff, picked up the ground ball and scored to tie the game at four. Syracuse was then outshot 17-3 and outscored 9-2 for the rest of the second quarter.

As the game slipped away from Syracuse, its play became increasingly sloppy. After winning 7-of-14 faceoffs to start the game, Phaup lost six straight to close out the second quarter. He finished the night 9-for-27 and was replaced by Danny Varello in the fourth quarter. Desko has said all season that the offense can and will start scoring if they have more opportunities off faceoffs. The Orange lost their possessions, and the offense remained stagnant.

“(Winning faceoffs) just gets the ball to our offense,” Desko said. “As a result, the defense doesn’t have to play so much. I think that’s less pressure on them.”

Late in the second quarter, Porter picked up a ground ball after a missed shot and prepared to clear to give Syracuse its first possession since the midway point of the frame. Griffin Westlin wasted no time causing the turnover in Syracuse’s zone to have an opportunity to score again. The two teams turned the ball over three consecutive times before Notre Dame finally ended it with a goal in the final 14 seconds of the quarter.

“We did get a couple stops, we didn’t clear it out in that (second) period,” Desko said.

After Kavanagh’s aforementioned interception and goal, Phaup won another faceoff to give SU another chance to score. A shot by Dordevic missed, and Jamie Trimboli turned the ball over seconds later. Notre Dame’s Arden Cohen picked up the ground ball and ran downfield for a mostly uncontested clear. 

Then, Syracuse short-stick defensive midfielder Saam Olexo was called for being offside, and the Orange were called for one of their seven penalties of the night. Notre Dame entered the game as the second-best team in the country on the man-up, while Syracuse was in the bottom half in defending them. 

The Fighting Irish took their time, but Westlin connected with Quinn McCahon at the crease right as the penalty clock ran out.

Playing against one of the best man-up teams in the nation, the team had talked about avoiding penalties, Desko said. But when the Orange saw themselves quickly falling out of the game, sloppy play got the best of them. Seven penalties is a season-high, and Notre Dame managed to convert half. 

Olexo’s offsides call was joined by three unnecessary roughness calls by three separate players in the second half, and the Orange spent three minutes in the final quarter down a player.

Syracuse, who was voted a conference favorite to start the season, ends ACC play last, with both of its only two conference wins coming against Virginia. The Orange were outscored by 22 goals in six conference games. Syracuse now awaits to learn its fate in the selection show on May 9.

“We do have a couple wins in the ACC … but I’m not taking anything for granted,” Desko said.

Published on May 1, 2021 at 2:29 pm

aekaylor@syr.edu | @cincinnallie