Four days after Syracuse stormed onto the field in emphatic fashion after beating Notre Dame, its second straight post-win celebration was subdued.

Kevin Rice drifted past a Binghamton defender and in front of an empty net before bouncing in the game-icing goal, then slowly walked into a crowd of teammates where shy fist bumps awaited.

The line of Syracuse bench players — which usually breaks out in a pseudo mosh pit — stood in place and lightly clapped, and the crowd — which usually greets every goal with an ovation — was only dotted by standing fans.

“Would we have liked to have been a little more fired up? Yes,” SU head coach John Desko said. “But we’ve gone through that and it was a big win.”

At the onset of the game, the stage was set for No. 7 Syracuse (6-3, 1-3 Atlantic Coast) to put another strong win on its spotted schedule after capturing its first-ever ACC victory on Saturday. But it had a hard time matching Binghamton’s (3-6, 1-0 America East) intensity on both ends of the field in an eventual 10-8 win in front of 1,847 in the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night.

After mitigating some early-season question marks in a convincing win over the Fighting Irish, the Orange nearly suffered a letdown loss to a lesser team that has played well this season, but also lost by a combined 45-16 margin in its last three trips up Interstate-81.

“They came out fired up,” SU midfielder Scott Loy said, “and they really played us well.”

In addition to Syracuse holding a significant talent advantage over the visitors, Binghamton was — for much of the game — a shorthanded version of the team that lost to No. 16 Colgate by one and No. 2 Cornell by six earlier this season.

Starting goalie Max Schefler did not play due to a death in his family, giving way to freshman Tanner Cosens. And faceoff specialist Alex Doerflein left with a hamstring injury in the first quarter after winning the game’s first four draws, and didn’t return.

But the Bearcats received strong performances from Cosens and Dan Mazurek at the faceoff X, leaving head coach Scott Nelson wondering what could have transpired had his team been at full strength.

“There’s going to be a lot of what if, especially when I look at the film,” Nelson said. “But they’re going to do the same thing. I’m sure they’re saying they could have played a lot better.”

What Nelson will see is that his team didn’t just stick with the top-flight Orange, but broke its offensive rhythm and had multiple chances to capture an upset win.

Syracuse trailed by one after the first quarter, with a compact Bearcats defense forcing it into sloppy play. The usual pace of the Orange attack was absent. Its normally crisp passing was replaced by consistent fumbling and errant turnovers.

SU carried a meek one-goal lead into halftime, and Binghamton rode a jolt of energy to start the third quarter to take a 6-5 lead. Goals by Johnny Maher and Kelly Donigan came in a two-minute span, each igniting an on-field celebration as well as a sizable Binghamton crowd behind the visitor’s bench.

“They were patient offensively,” Desko said. “I think they’re used to playing tight games and they didn’t panic.”

In the days leading up to the game, Desko talked with his players about avoiding a drop off in their performance. And while the Bearcats stayed even-keeled in an up-and-down second half, it seemed that Syracuse was heading in that direction.

Michael Antinozzi drew the Bearcats within one with 7:22 remaining, and the Orange followed with three straight turnovers that breathed life into Binghamton while sucking it out of the Dome.

The crowd was quiet and all that could be heard was the communication on the field. Only did the stadium liven when celebratory music followed Rice’s empty netter. But even then, the Orange only lightly jogged onto the field.

In a year full of games against premier, Top-10 opponents, a game that was supposed to be a breath of fresh air was anything but.

“For both teams, you’re coming off a big game and then you only have a couple days to prepare,” Desko said. “It’s not an excuse for us and it’s not an excuse for them, but you have what you have.”

Published on April 2, 2014 at 9:13 pm

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