CHESTER, Pa. – Kevin Rice knew Syracuse had a reputation of coming out slow on the road.

In its three games away from the Carrier Dome this season, the Orange trailed 4-0 against St. Johns, faced a 9-3 deficit against Notre Dame and fell behind 5-0 against North Carolina.

But on Friday night, albeit not by the margin it’s found itself on the other side of, the Orange scored the first two goals and never trailed by more than one in the first half.

“We talked about it all week, that the book on us is sort of that we can’t play well early on the road,” Rice said. “We wanted to answer those critics a little bit.”

Syracuse was paced in the first half by a Nicky Galasso hat trick and entered halftime tied at five, a stark contrast from the four-goal deficit it found itself in at the break two weeks ago in North Carolina. The improved start wasn’t anything that blew the game open early, but rather something that prevented the third-seeded Orange (10-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) from having to dig out of a hole against the second-seeded Tar Heels (12-3, 3-1) in a 9-8 win at PPL Park in the ACC tournament semifinals.

And whether it was Galasso’s hot start or SU’s defense silencing Chad Tutton, Jimmy Bitter and Joey Sankey at the onset, the Orange rode it early to advance and face fourth-seeded Duke in the finals on Sunday.

“Nicky played awesome. He got like two or three goals right off the bat there, he really sparked their offense,” Tutton said. “We had a bit of a slow start and just look at the first three goals of the game, guys who aren’t normally scoring goals.

“I put that onus on us, specifically me, Joey and Jimmy, we’ve got to do a better job of getting our offense started early.”

Just more than a minute into the game, Galasso received a pass from Randy Staats almost horizontal to the goal on the right side of the crease. He sharply planted with his left foot and cut past Jake Matthai before slotting one through goalie Kieran Burke’s legs.

Then as two defenders collapsed on Dylan Donahue, Galasso cut through the middle, received a pass and fired a right-handed shot past Burke for a 2-0 lead before throwing both his hands straight up in the air.

“It’s up to the individual to make plays,” UNC head coach Joe Breschi said. “… and Nicky made plays for them.”

In the second quarter, Wardwell made back-to-back saves on Bitter and Sankey, with his knees and in between his legs, respectively, in just one of the instances SU kept the nation’s highest-scoring duo at bay.

On the ESPNU broadcast at halftime, John Desko credited Galasso’s comfort level against his former team for his early success. He also praised his defense for defending against UNC’s picks early, which helped silence Bitter and Sankey.

And though North Carolina was able to come back from a three-goal deficit to tie the game in the second half and Galasso was held without a goal or assist, Syracuse did enough early on to set itself up for an easier road to the finals.

“Nicky always loves playing against Carolina,” Rice said. “He really took it to them early which helped settle everyone in.”

Published on April 25, 2015 at 1:08 pm

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