David Lipka drove left, gained a step on a Johns Hopkins defender and sent the Carrier Dome crowd to its feet. The Blue Jays lead had evaporated following an Orange scoring spurt and Lipka waved his face at Patrick Foley as if to say, “You didn’t see this coming.”

On the JHU sideline, head coach Dave Pietramala had. He’s seen it before in his 19-year-stint at JHU — SU’s propensity to score in bunches — and it happened again. Lipka found the net for the Orange’s fourth-straight goal, giving it a three-score lead in the final quarter. As white-and-orange flashed on the scoreboard circling the turf, Pietramala sensed the wave of momentum hit its crescendo.

“We said, ‘They’re gonna make a run. We gotta handle that run with poise, composure and toughness,’” Pietramala said. “We didn’t do a real good job of that in the fourth quarter.”

No. 14 Syracuse’s (3-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) offense outlasted No. 18 Johns Hopkins (2-2), 14-10, in the Carrier Dome. The Orange entered the final 15 minutes down one with no answer for JHU goalie Ryan Darby. A 6-1 flurry, sparked by SU’s midfield, solved its offensive stagnancy and may have answered an early-season question: Where will the Orange find thei go-to offense? Through one-third of the 2019 campaign, it’s been in the midfield. Jacob Buttermore, after making a mid-game switch to first-line middie, scored three times and the duo of Jamie Trimboli and Peter Dearth added two goals each.

In Syracuse’s wins, its defense has been the reason. It held a high-powered Albany attack led by Tehoka Nanticoke to five goals and limited Army to eight. Saturday’s game, however, was decided by a unit that’s mostly started scoring runs in the middle of games. The six decisive scores — none of which by traditional attack — carried the Orange in the latest bout between historic programs — the first with both teams over the 900-win mark.

After an opening faceoff win, Alex Concannon beat Drake Porter. Minutes later, two powder-blue jerseys trapped Porter and sent a desperate pass toward the Carrier Dome ceiling. The Orange didn’t get possession until the four minutes into the games, and Johns Hopkins started a scoring run. 

On one play in the first frame, JHU ran a pick-and-roll to free up Brett Baskin. Syracuse read it but neglected to limit the space it provided Jack Keogh who gave the visitors a 5-1 advantage. As Pietramala said postgame, the Bluejays took the “first swing” and floored the Orange.

It was the same offensive strategy that flummoxed SU a week ago when it blew a fourth-quarter lead to Virginia. And in the latest defensive exploitation, a traveling JHU band thumped a drum and fans clapped along.

“In the first quarter defensively, we didn’t settle in our package,” SU head coach John Desko said. “We didn’t realize who they were. As the game went on, we got better and  started to follow the game plan.”

Facing an early deficit, the Orange relied on its midfield to recoup their lack of a true-dodger. Bomberry forced a turnover and fed a cutting Peter Dearth who slotted a shot home. Brendan Curry wristed an easy score, and Stephen Rehfuss served a pass to Bradley Voigt who used a behind-the-back feed to make it 5-3 after one.

Tyson Bomberry and Nick Mellen forced ground balls to cut into the Blue Jays early run. When JHU operated from Porter’s back, there were as many as three white jerseys standing near the crease, siphoning off the attack. Johns Hopkins persisted. When it forced an uneven pairing — like attack Joey Epstein on Marcus Cunningham — it took advantage and sounded the drum in the stands. 

Offensively, SU kept pressure on Darby. Two goals from Rehfuss and Voigt got through, but Darby eventually stabilized with nine first-half saves. And it trickled into the second half. He ate a Trimboli try with this chest. He matched Voigt’s stick on a low-shot and plucked a Curry bouncer that came with an expiring shot clock. In the third quarter, the game was boiled down to its core, with JHU deploying a man-to-man defensive scheme, and SU was stifled.

After absorbing pressure in the first half, powder blue jerseys packed deeper in the defensive zone. SU cutters that darted in front Darby stumbled as passing lanes were clogged. Syracuse sent a shortstick behind the net to create the type of offense it seemingly kept allowing. JHU’s defense, ranked 63rd in the nation before Saturday, allowed one goal in the third quarter after “sloppy” play by both sides, Desko said. But then, Syracuse’s midfield shifted momentum.

“With some transition in the fourth quarter,” Desko said, “we were able to pull ahead.”

SU’s first offensive-opening came from two penalties that gave it a two-man advantage in the fourth quarter. With JHU’s four defenders creating a square, Trimboli shifted and beat Darby’s stick. Then Buttermore operated near similar space, wound back with his left hand and shot across Darby’s body to earn Syracuse’s first lead of the game. Seconds later, Brett Kennedy hopped into a heat-check goal that nearly yanked the Orange bench onto the field in celebration.

“I just came down,” Kennedy said. “It was open and I figured why not? Just let it go.”

Kenendy’s first score of the season made it 11-9 and Lipka’s follow-up strike had Pietramala search his sidelines for a response. Matt Hubler would score after a timeout, but it was too late.

As Desko has said countless times this season, there’s parity across the sport. Upstart programs have skyrocketed in national rankings. Storied programs — like the two that squared off in the Carrier Dome — started the season under-.500. But both have rebounded, and it would be fair to call their most-recent matchup a litmus test for which middle-of-the-road team could ascend into men’s lacrosse’s newly-minted top-tier.

When the buzzer sounded, and both teams charged its goalies, Syracuse reached Porter faster. The defense had survived, and Syracuse’s offense silenced JHU’s drum. For the first time this season, Syracuse’s offense, which has relied on its midfield, had proven it could take over.  

“We got some transition,” Desko said. “We didn’t take our foot off the gas. … We just kept the offense going and the early-offense going and it really worked for us.”

Published on March 9, 2019 at 3:13 pm

Contact Nick: [email protected] | @nick_a_alvarez