Men's Lacrosse

Nick Mariano’s season-high four goals propel No. 4 SU to 11-10 upset over No. 1 Notre Dame

Ally Moreo | Photo Editor

Nick Mariano was all smiles after his big four-goal game led Syracuse to an upset over the nation's top-ranked team.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After each of his four goals, Nick Mariano spread out his hands and shook them in rejoice. His most elaborate celebration came when he stroked his third goal of the day, running left from the X against a short-stick defender. Defender on his hip and fading away from about 15 yards away, he stuck it far post, unassisted, to give Syracuse a 10-9 advantage.

The first of his two fourth-quarter goals, it prompted a mob by the edge of the restraining box and set up another one-goal wild finish for Syracuse, an 11-10 upset victory Saturday afternoon over top-ranked Notre Dame. Five minutes later, Mariano followed up the score with a sweep topside to his left, beating goalie Shane Doss and extending the Syracuse lead to two with under nine minutes left.

Mariano scored both of SU’s fourth-quarter goals, giving the defense a slight buffer to hold off a late Notre Dome rally at Arlotta Stadium. Backed by a stout SU defense, Mariano spearheaded No. 4 Syracuse’s (7-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) offense with a game- and season-high four goals in SU’s upset of top-ranked Notre Dame (5-2, 1-1). The senior kicked off an attack that hung 11 goals on one of the best defenses in the country.

“He’s been shooting really well and he’s been getting the short-stick quite a bit in these games with (Sergio) Salcido getting the pole,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “He’s been able to take advantage of that short-stick and get his dodges in and get his shots off. Those are hard for a goalie to pick up.”

The hardest for Doss to pick up may have been Mariano’s second goal, which came on a right-handed shot. He laughed about it post game, considering it was the lefty’s first goal with his weak hand all year. Then again, he expected it. He scored three goals last week with his left and knew UND would force him right. When UND took away his left, Mariano rolled back right to beat Doss top shelf to put Syracuse up 7-5.



Though he did not get an assist, Mariano severed the Notre Dame defense with a mix of alley dodges and runs behind the cage. He bumped his season total goals to 19, a team high. The player who scored a team-high 35 goals last season provided the rupture to Notre Dame’s eighth-ranked defense on Saturday. Earlier this year, the Fighting Irish held a deadly sixth-ranked Maryland offense to just four goals in a 5-4 win.

Syracuse entered Saturday surging at the right time, winners of four consecutive games. The Orange capitalized on transition opportunities last week against Duke and scored big goals when it needed to at Johns Hopkins. In transition or in the six-on-six, SU’s motion offense has commanded possession.

“It’s a mutual understanding of when to push the ball,” Salcido said, “and when to be a little conservative.”

Much credit goes to Mariano, who had a career-high seven points in the season opener. The next week against then-No. 12 Albany, he stroked the game-winner. He has seven goals in his last two games, acting as the catalyst to SU’s balanced offense. At UND, Mariano got assistance from sophomore attack Nate Solomon, who scored three times, leaving space for himself.

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Ally Moreo | Photo Editor

“We’re running 3-4-5 attackmen and keeping them fresh,” Desko said, “and each guy does something a little different than the other guy.”

Mariano had only one goal in last year’s meeting, a 17-7 Notre Dame blowout win in the Carrier Dome. That UND team had star defenders Matt Landis and Edwin Glazener, who combined to shut off Mariano most of the game. This year, a blend of Hugh Crance, Pat Healy and Garrett Epple covered Mariano.

UND head coach Kevin Corrigan said this week that defending Syracuse’s balanced attack was his top priority. He didn’t single out Mariano, saying he’s a perennial threat among deep line of capable scorers. On Saturday, he breached what few gaps UND’s defense allowed. His four-goal day may bump Syracuse to No. 1 in the country on Monday.

“The guys were moving off ball a lot for me,” Mariano said. “By doing that, it messes up their slides. If they don’t slide to me, I try to get my hands free and take the shot when I can.”

To pull off its fifth-straight one-goal victory, Syracuse didn’t need its fifth game-winning goal of the season. That’s because Mariano had already given SU’s final score with more than eight minutes to go in the game.

Afterward, he shook his hands in rejoice.





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