EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was one of the few holes in Notre Dame’s staunch man-to-man defense. Kevin Rice noticed it in the week leading up to his team’s test with the No. 1 team in the nation. So as he sat behind the net, watching Syracuse’s offense develop, he already knew who would be open.

Rice popped up to the left side of the net. John Kemp slid over and the right side opened up. Just enough room for his man, Dylan Donahue.

Donahue charged to the net for the easy feed from Rice and the easy goal on the empty net, “back-door layups,” as Kemp put it.

“We talked about that sort of situation actually earlier in the week when we were scouting them about how they like to play and slide from behind,” Rice said. “So I definitely had that in the back of my mind before the play started that Dylan could be the open guy.”

The Orange (11-3, 5-1 Big East) used the exact same play for two straight goals in the fourth quarter of its 10-4 win over the Fighting Irish (10-3, 4-2) on Saturday at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic in front of 19,875 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The first stretched No. 7 SU’s lead to 7-4, and the second put the game out of reach, setting up a rematch in the semifinals of the Big East tournament on Thursday in Villanova, Pa.

On a day when JoJo Marasco was largely taken out of the equation, the focal point of Syracuse’s offense shifted behind the cage, to its attack. Rice and Donahue each finished with four points, seven of which came in the fourth quarter, to spark the Orange’s late push. Donahue scored three straight goals in the final frame to stretch SU’s lead from one to four goals and put away the Fighting Irish.

With UND’s focus shifted to Marasco and Syracuse’s potent midfield, more was asked of Rice. He appeared to deliver with a fantastic finish late in the third quarter, falling on the crease and slipping a ball past Kemp. He seemed to tiptoe the crease to perfection, but the goal was waved off for a crease violation anyway.

Minutes later he delivered for real. Rice took a pass from Matt Walters on the left wing – his sweet spot – and cranked a shot past Kemp. The floodgates were open just 26 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the Orange wouldn’t trail again.

“Any time you think you score and some sort of call or whatever takes it away it definitely gets you going a little bit,” Rice said.

Over the next 10 minutes, SU put the game out of reach. Donahue scored his first on a feed from Luke Cometti. The midfielder usual plays around the net, but the Irish defense kept Syracuse’s midfield at bay. So Cometti played on the perimeter, settling for outside shots.

This time, though, he dumped a pass down to Donahue perched on the crease for the easy goal.

A minute later came the staple of the Orange’s offense on Saturday: Rice to Donahue. Rice spun behind the net to shake a defender, popped out onto the doorstep and tossed a pass across the crease for another “back-door layup” to Donahue. In a matter of minutes the game went from a toss-up, to decided.

“I think our defense got tired of playing defense all day,” Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan said.

For three quarters, though, SU struggled to make anything happen on the offensive end. The Irish’s man-to-man defense kept Syracuse’s midfielders away from the net, and UND’s All-American goaltender took away would-be goals when the Orange did get to the crease.

Both teams failed to score in the opening quarter, and the Fighting Irish held SU to just one goal for the entire first half. It wasn’t until Walters scored a man-up goal to kick off the second half that Syracuse began to find its rhythm. Trailing by two entering the half, the Orange notched three goals in the third quarter to level the game heading into the final frame.

Then Rice took over. His waved-off goal just set the tone for a dominant fourth quarter. He found his spots on the field to score and found the play that worked.

With less than five minutes remaining, Rice again crept to the doorstep and found Donahue open across the crease. SU’s offense, which was perplexed for 45 minutes by the Irish’s confounding defense, watched as its lead ballooned to four goals. Any hope of a UND comeback vanished.

“He knows when to take advantage of his defensemen, or if he gets a short stick,” Marasco said. “He’s a great role back and he made some great feeds to DD today and to see him put some in the net is great. We have a great all-around offense.”

Published on April 27, 2013 at 11:25 pm

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