Orange Opens BIG EAST Play At St. John's

#6 Syracuse (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) at St. John's (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Details	Saturday, March 10 \| Queens, N.Y. \| 1 p.m. DaSilva Memorial Field \| Tickets \| Weather
Game Coverage	TV: None \| Radio: WTKW - 99.5 FM \| Video: Redstormsports.com Orange All Access: Audio \| Live Stats Twitter: @Cuse
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Notes \| Guide
St. John's Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Guide

QUEENS, N.Y. – The sixth-ranked Orange opens the BIG EAST portion of its schedule Saturday, March 10 with a 1 p.m. game against St. John's at DaSilva Memorial Field. It's the second of three straight road games for the Orange, which visited top-ranked Virginia last weekend and travels to Johns Hopkins on March 17.

The Orange and Red Storm enter this weekend's matchup with identical 2-1 records. Syracuse started the year with wins against New York rivals Albany and Army before losing on the road to Virginia, 14-10. The Red Storm has wins against Holy Cross and Siena. It's only loss came on Feb. 25 at Yale, 19-6.

Saturday's game will be broadcast on the radio home of the Orange - TK 99 (99.5 FM) in Syracuse. Live streaming audio is available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.

BOUNCING BACK
Syracuse has demonstrated a knack for putting losses in the rearview mirror quickly. Since the start of 2008, the Orange has lost nine times, including last Sunday's defeat at Virginia. After each of the first eight losses, Syracuse rebounded to win its next game. The Orange hasn't dropped consecutive games since losing to Massachusetts (9-7) and Colgate (12-5) to close out the 2007 season.

BIG EAST BEASTS
Syracuse has never lost a BIG EAST game. The Orange is 12-0 all-time in league play, going 6-0 in both 2010 and 2011 to win the league's regular-season championship. The Orange is averaging 13.1 goals per game all-time in BIG EAST play and has outscored its conference foes cumulatively, 157-72.

ABOUT THE ORANGE
Sophomore attackman Derek Maltz leads the Orange in points (10) and goals (7). The Ashburn, Va. native had the best game of his young career last weekend against Virginia. Maltz set career highs in goals (3), assists (2), points (5) and ground balls (3) versus the Cavaliers.

Along with Maltz, redshirt senior Tim Desko (6g, 1a) and junior JoJo Marasco (4g, 3a) are among the team's offensive leaders. Senior Tommy Palasek leads the team with six assists. Palasek is tied for fourth in the BIG EAST in assists per game (2.0).

Defensively, junior close defender Brian Megill is tied for 11th nationally in caused turnovers at 2.33 per game. Redshirt junior David Hamlin and sophomore Matt Harris have started every game this year alongside Megill.

Starting goalie Matthew Lerman is coming off a career-best nine-save effort at Virginia. He played 45 minutes before being replaced by Dominic Lamolinara. The duo has continued to rotate throughout the season. Lerman has a slightly better goals-against average (9.71 to 10.40), while Lamolinara has a little higher save percentage (.536 to 528).

SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S
Like Syracuse, the Red Storm enters this weekend's contest with a 2-1 overall record, including a 2-0 mark at DaSilva Memorial Field. St. John's defeated Siena, 8-5, at home on March 3 in its most recent outing. Offensively, the Red Storm is second in the BIG EAST in shooting percentage (.330, 31-94) and averages 10.3 goals per game.

St. John's boasts an explosive attack unit. Kieran McArdle (6g, 7a), Harry Kutner (6g, 3a) and Kevin Cernuto (5g, 6a) all have at least nine points. McArdle leads the BIG EAST in points per game (4.33) and Cernuto is third (3.67). Terence Leach is the Red Storm's top midfield threat. He has four points, including three goals.

Defensively, long-stick midfielder Dillon Ayers is the team's top playmaker. A preseason All-BIG EAST selection, Ayers is second on the team with 12 ground balls. He was recently named to the conference's weekly honor roll after scooping up five ground balls and causing three turnovers is the Siena victory. The close defense features Andrew Viscusi (5 GBs, 1 CT), Harrison Freid (5 GBs, 3 CTs) and Joe Addona (7 GBs, 3 CTs).

Faceoff specialist Jordan Rothman (.492, 32-65) leads the Red Storm with 15 ground balls. Goalie Jeff Lowman has started all three games. Lowman has 34 saves and ranks third in the conference in saves per game (11.33). He holds a 10.48 goals-against average and a .531 save percentage.

THE ST. JOHN'S SERIES
The Orange has won the previous four meetings with the Red Storm by the combined score of 85-27. Syracuse is 2-0 against St. John's since the start of BIG EAST play, including last year's 20-6 decision at the Carrier Dome. The Orange has scored at least 20 goals in three of the four meetings, including a series-high 26 in a 17-goal triumph (26-9) during the 1990 national championship season.

UP NEXT ...
Syracuse will travel to Baltimore on Saturday, March 17 to take on Johns Hopkins at 4 p.m. at Homewood Field. The game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU.

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