Albany Stuns SU in Double OT, 16-15

Sunday, February 17

Syracuse, NY

4 p.m.

Syracuse University

Albany

JoJo Marasco's eight points against Albany were the most for an SU player in one game since 2009.

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

2/17/2013 8:51:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Score By Period	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	2OT	Final
Albany	5	3	5	2	0	1	16
Syracuse	2	3	5	5	0	0	15
Box Score \| Photos \| Highlights \| Press Conference Feb. 17, 2013 \| Carrier Dome / Syracuse, N.Y. \| Attendance: 4,130

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Albany's Miles Thompson took a feed from his brother, Lyle, and scored with 3:03 left to play in the second overtime to lift the Great Danes (1-0) to a 16-15 victory against No. 13 Syracuse (0-1) in the season opener for both teams Sunday, Feb. 17 at the Carrier Dome.

The goal brought to an end a thrilling game of runs that saw the Orange rally from five goals down (8-3) in the first half and four goals down (13-9) late in the third quarter to force overtime.

"I have to congratulate Albany and the coaching staff," SU head coach John Desko said. "I thought their guys really came to play. I thought their attack was really special. I almost questioned moving Lyle (Thompson) from midfield to attack early on. He played really well. I could tell by the amount of assists he had that it was a great move. He obviously plays well with his brother (Miles) and his cousin (Ty). I thought they were spectacular tonight."

The Thompson trio combined for 19 points in the game and 10 of Albany's 16 goals. Miles had three goals and three assists. Lyle finished with a team-high eight points (two goals, six assists) and Ty notched five goals.

Their performances nullified a tremendous effort from Syracuse senior captain JoJo Marasco who scored a career-best eight points (three goals, five assists) in the loss. In addition, sophomore Kevin Rice and redshirt freshman Dylan Donahue also had big games for the Orange. Rice finished with a personal-best four points (one goal, three assists) and Donahue tallied three goals, including two late in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

The Thompsons staked the Great Danes to a 4-0 first-quarter lead as Ty and Miles combined to score three of the game's first four goals. Lyle assisted on three of them and Miles was credited with an assist on the other.

SU junior Derek Maltz snapped the Orange drought with a goal at the 5:13 mark, and redshirt sophomore Henry Schoonmaker scored with eight seconds to go in the period, but the Great Danes maintained a 5-2 margin at the end of the first.

Albany scored three of the second quarter's first four goals to open up an 8-3 advantage before SU sophomore Matt Walters struck for an extra-man goal with 5:31 left in the half. With less than a minute left in the period, Marasco scored unassisted to cut the Albany lead to 8-5 at halftime.

Ryan Feuerstein opened the third-quarter scoring to stretch the Great Danes' advantage to 9-5, but SU responded with four straight goals, including one by junior Scott Loy that tied it 9-all at the 7:55 mark of the third quarter.

The Great Danes answered with a four-goal run of their own to go up 13-9 with 3:03 to play in the third. Then Syracuse responded with six of the game's next eight goals, including back-to-back strikes from Donahue at 4:21 and 2:52, respectively, in the fourth quarter to knot the game at 15.

In the first overtime, Syracuse had the ball for the entire four minutes. The Orange attempted five shots, none of which found the mark.

SU junior Chris Daddio won the opening faceoff again in the second extra session to give the ball to the Orange again. The Great Danes' defense blocked a shot by Marasco with 3:28 left and collected the ground ball to gain possession for the first time in OT. After a shot by Tim Cox sailed high, Albany coach Scott Marr called timeout. On the restart, the Great Danes put the ball in the stick of Lyle Thompson and he threaded a pass to his brother, Miles, who buried the winner.

Syracuse held the advantage in shots (47-45), ground balls (36-32) and faceoffs (20-15) in the game.

Albany goalie Blaze Riorden totaled 13 saves in his collegiate debut, including three in the first overtime. Sophomore netminder Bobby Wardwell made seven stops for Syracuse.

The Orange returns to action Sunday, Feb. 24 when its hosts Army in the Carrier Dome. Faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Time Warner Cable Sports.

Game Notes: For Albany, it marked the first time in 11 tries that it beat the Orange at the Carrier Dome … SU leads the all-time series, 10-1 … The loss snapped SU's streak of 16 consecutive season-opening wins … Prior to Sunday, Syracuse' last season-opening loss was in 1996 to Virginia, 17-15 … Rice, Donahue, Loy and seniors Luke Cometti and Kyle Carey all made their first career starts … Cometti tied his personal best with three points (two goals, one assist) … Marasco's eight points were the most for an SU player since Kenny Nims had eight points against Providence on Feb. 15, 2009 … Daddio set career highs for faceoff wins (20), attempts (33) and ground balls (8).