Dami Oladunmoye shook his head and bopped with “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” blaring on the loudspeakers after Brendan Curry’s goal put Syracuse up 17-12. Hobart (3-1) and the Orange (4-0) traded goals for most of the third quarter, but a 4-0 run at the end of the third frame that carried over into the fourth gave SU space. Then Curry’s goal after the Statesmen snapped the run would start a run of play where the two teams again went back-and-forth with goals, but SU was in control and went on to win, 21-13. 

Here are three takeaways from Friday night’s game. 

Fool me once

Hobart’s defensive scheme was very similar to Army in that it pressed Syracuse all the way up to the block ‘S’ in the middle of the field. It troubled the Orange last weekend when they scored just two goals in the first period and nine goals total. But having played against it once, SU came into the Kraus-Simmons matchup prepared.

Syracuse didn’t rely on inverting its midfielders as much on Friday but instead let Curry and Tucker Dordevic do downhill dodges to open up space. The two mirrored goals on either wing of the field in the first quarter with a dodge to shake their defenders and speed to get space for a well-placed shot. Dordevic did it again to give Syracuse back the lead, 8-7, in the second half. The second midfield line was also much more productive than last week, with Jacob Buttermore notching a pair of goals. 

After a sloppy last weekend for the offense, Syracuse showed it can adapt and conquer. The Orange exploited the open middle, ran in transition for easy goals and took advantage of having a plethora of dodgers to work with. 

Fool’s gold

In the week leading up to the game, Syracuse’s close defenders mentioned Hobart’s fast offense which will sometimes even take on defenses 3-on-5. And the Statesmen came into Friday averaging the most goals per game (23) in the country. They showed flashes of a high-powered offense against SU. On one play early in the second half, Hobart cleared the ball and managed to find Jason Knox on a 2-on-2 in transition. Knox faked a pass, then actually passed it to Ryan Archer, who rolled off a check and slotted the ball past Drake Porter. 

In a half-field set, Hobart took advantage of a slow rotation to the top of the zone and beat Drake Porter from long range on a couple of occasions to start the game. But in their first two sets, the Statesmen ran out of clock. On its third, Hobart turned the ball over. A team that’s averaging a little more than 60 shots a game managed just 40 against the Orange.  

Using the man-advantage

After Tommy Mott beat Brett Kennedy on a dodge to score, Kennedy headed over the sidelines to take a knee beside the Syracuse bench. Hobart would play with an extra man for a minute. When Eric Holden scored to make it 7-5 in the second quarter, Kennedy made the same mistake and Hobart again took advantage. Mistakes like those let Hobart stick around in a first half that Syracuse otherwise dominated. Hobart’s offense struggled to find open looks, especially in the opening quarter, and when it did, the shots went high or wide. But on the night, Hobart went 3-for-4 on the man-up. 

It didn’t hurt the Orange’s final score on Friday night, but it kept SU’s offense under pressure until the Orange’s run in the third and fourth quarters.

Published on February 28, 2020 at 9:27 pm

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