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At the start of the third quarter, Syracuse’s defense watched as Army’s Liam Davenport sprinted up the right sideline, unmarked. It watched as he cut inside, picking out Nickolas Edinger at the top of the crease between two SU defenders. It watched as Edinger dispatched the effort into the back of the net, putting the Black Knights up by two. 

In the previous period, Syracuse watched Brendan Nichtern camp out behind the goal before uncovering behind the right post to receive a pass. SU’s defense didn’t go with him, and Nichtern scored an easy goal as part of Army’s 6-1 second quarter. 

And moments before that, Nichtern executed a spin move to escape Brett Barlow’s pressure before flipping a cross-net pass. His teammate, Bobby Abshire, cut past two ball-watching SU defenders and scored, too. 

“Even in our settled defense, we gave (up) some easy backdoor cuts from the inside,” head coach John Desko said postgame. “That’s the kind of offense, the kind of shots that the goalie just can’t save.”

When Syracuse took the field for the first time in 351 days on Sunday, the result was a gritty matchup with Army. Syracuse conceded multiple goals on poor transitional defense, failed to close down Army attacks as they charged inside and couldn’t keep up with Army’s long offensive possessions. After a strong first period, the offense sputtered, and the defense did little to bail its teammates out in No. 13 Army’s (1-1) 18-11 upset of No. 4 Syracuse (0-1). 

Syracuse played an intrasquad scrimmage with referees last week, Desko said, but its typical offseason prep was disrupted due to the pandemic. SU returned to campus for practice just three weeks ago and faced its first ranked opponent in a season-opener since 2011. Meanwhile, Army played a scrimmage and a game before traveling to the Carrier Dome. 

For Syracuse — particularly for its defense — that showed on Sunday.

“We just haven’t had the experience at this time of year to be able to adjust,” Desko said. 

Last year, Nichtern propelled Army to an early 5-1 lead, with two goals and two assists. The Orange adjusted defensively and contained him in the second half, but they needed All-American Jamie Trimboli to bail them out after Army held SU attacks Chase Scanlan, Stephen Rehfuss and Griffin Cook to zero points. 

Sunday afternoon, Nichtern (four goals, three assists) once again proved to be problematic for Syracuse’s defense. The Black Knights’ attack regularly created space for himself by outpacing SU defenders, rounding the corner and firing shots in open windows he generated for himself. At one point, he found himself unmarked less than 3 feet in front of Drake Porter and bounced the ball past him with ease.

Desko said Brett Kennedy, SU’s top cover defender, did well to cover the junior attack, but the problems came when Nichtern forced Syracuse into defensive switches.

“You could see why he’s their quarterback, their go-to guy,” Desko said. 

Coming off a 14-9 loss against then-No. 6 Virginia last weekend, Army jogged a warm-up lap around Ernie Davis Legends Field 45 minutes before faceoff. The leader of one of the two warm-up lines screamed “Let’s f*cking go,” at the top of his lungs, the sound ringing through the silent Carrier Dome before his teammates all responded with shouts of their own.

Army brought that same energy for most of the afternoon, too, except for a first-quarter slump. Tucker Dordevic completed a first-quarter hat trick, outrunning his man to create a shooting window, cutting back before ripping another shot and nutmegging Black Knights’ goalie Wyatt Schupler after an Army turnover. SU led 6-1. 

But after the second period began, it was Army making those plays against Syracuse’s defense. Starting defender Grant Murphy left early in the second quarter, clutching his shoulder as he walked off the field. He returned for the second half, but by then, the damage had been done by his replacement — Utah transfer Nick Hapney.

On two occasions, Hapney was caught ball-watching, and his man slipped free and scored. He couldn’t cover Nichtern and wasn’t quick enough to pressure the ball-carrier on multiple occasions. Still, Desko reiterated postgame that he wasn’t concerned about SU’s defensive depth.

Bobby Abshire had four goals and two assists in Army’s win over Syracuse. Courtesy of Rich Barnes | USA Today Sports

The usually reliable Peter Dearth succumbed to Army’s ride minutes into the third period, with SU down one, dropping the ball right in front of SU’s goal. He fired a wild pass attempt over Porter’s head, and Syracuse was only bailed out by a pushing penalty called on Army. 

Moments later, Syracuse let a loose ball dribble along the ground just feet in front of its net. Barlow and Nick DiPietro couldn’t get there in time, and Edinger used his speed to scoop up the ground ball and fire the bounce-shot into the ground to extend Army’s lead to three. 

At times, there was little Syracuse’s defense could do against a shining Army offense, though. Nichtern drove along the goal line and picked out a diving Abshire, who sent the highlight shot into the top corner past Porter. 

Then, in the final minute of play, Aidan Byrnes got free just outside the crease, once again unmarked, and slotted it past Porter. All the SU goalie could do was lay flat on the turf in frustration. 

Last year, Syracuse’s offense proved to be too much for Army defense’s to contain. But this year, despite SU returning its entire starting lineup, it was the opposite — the Syracuse defense underwhelmed, and it paid for it. 

“We just finished our third week at practice, and frankly, I think we played like it,” Desko said. “They played more experienced than we did.”

Published on February 21, 2021 at 2:28 pm

Contact Roshan: [email protected] | @Roshan_f16