The game started out with shades of last year’s upset loss to Bryant, as the Red Foxes of Marist scored the game’s first goal to take an early lead.
That would be their only lead of the night.
Syracuse scored 10 unanswered there after to cruise to a 20-8 victory in a humid Carrier Dome. The Orange will play Johns Hopkins, a 19-7 victor over Virginia earlier in the day, in the NCAA Quarterfinals on the campus of the Naval Campus in Annapolis Sunday at noon.
In a day dominated by seniors earlier in the day in the Dome by graduation ceremonies, a sophomore finally shined. Wearing the highly dignified #22, Jordan Evans, the #1 recruit coming out of high school at nearby Jamesville-DeWitt by Inside Lacrosse, scored a career high five goals, including a 1st quarter hat trick, for his first big performance as a Syracuse Orange.
The three starting attackmen who graduated earlier in the day had big games as well. Randy Staats had a pair of goals and assists, Dylan Donahue (who’s technically a redshirt junior) had a hat trick and two assists, and Tewaaraton finalist Kevin Rice recorded four goals and five assists. He tied Matt Riter and Gary Gait for third on Cuse’s NCAA single-game scoring list with his nine points, the most since Riter’s seven goals and two assists against Hofstra in 1993. Goalie Bobby Wardwell, another senior, made six saves on the night before Warren Hill replaced him mid way through the 4th.
Marist had a small run at the end of the 2nd quarter until the beginning of the 3rd as the Red Foxes scored four straight to cut the lead to 10-5. Cuse followed with four straight before Joseph Radin stopped that small run, which the Orange then responded with a run of six straight scores.
The Red Foxes end a remarkable season at 14-4, which resulted in a MAAC Championship and their first ever NCAA win in their first ever NCAA game against Bryant last Wednesday. With a young team, Marist looks to be a contender in the MAAC for the next couple of seasons.
As for the Orange, their road to Philly continues Sunday as they take on Johns Hopkins in Annapolis. The crowd could favor the Blue Jays, since Annapolis is about a 45 minute drive from Baltimore, but it should produce a great quarterfinal rematch from earlier in the season, where the Orange defeated the Blue Jays 13-10 in the Carrier Dome.
