SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the third straight year, the Syracuse varsity lacrosse team defeated a star-studded group of past SU greats in the Orange Alumni Classic. The event featured four-time All-American Mike Leveille and NCAA career wins leader John Galloway, but it was junior Derek Maltz (Ashburn, Va.) who stole the show. Maltz scored four goals to lead the Orange past the Alumni All-Stars, 14-9, Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Carrier Dome.
All four of Maltz’s tallies came during an eight-goal run that turned a 2-1 deficit early in the second quarter into a 9-2 lead midway through the third. Two of Maltz’s goals were assisted by sophomore Kevin Rice (Skaneateles, N.Y.), who paced the Orange with three assists. Junior midfielder Scott Loy (Toledo, Ohio) also finished with three points (two goals, one assist) in the contest.
For head coach John Desko, the game was an exciting end to another SU lacrosse alumni weekend.
“I think it’s just kind of a fun day,” Desko said. “We get together with the alums. Some of these guys were on the team last year. It gives us a good individual run. We had our brunch this morning. Our 2012 banquet if you will. Just to see all the guys come through the office yesterday and have some fun running around here in the Carrier Dome, it’s a great day for Syracuse lacrosse.”
Trailing 2-1 following a goal by Leveille at the 14:18 of the second quarter, freshman Derek DeJoe (Fairport, N.Y.) found the cage to tie the game at two and ignite the scoring spree. Maltz did the rest, scoring four of the team’s next five goals to break the game open.
It wasn’t until Kevin Drew scored in transition with 7:33 left in the third did the Alumni All-Stars stop the bleeding. However, the Orange varsity answered right back with goals by Loy and sophomore Matt Walters (Villanova, Pa.) to take its biggest lead of the game (11-3) with 5:54 to go in the period.
The Alumni All-Stars closed the gap to 11-6 early in the fourth quarter with three straight goals, but any hope of comeback was squashed by redshirt freshman Eric DeJohn (Syracuse, N.Y.) who scored twice in the span of 12 seconds to push the varsity lead to 13-6 and seal the win.
Sophomore Bobby Wardwell (Clifton Park, N.Y.) started in the cage for the varsity. He totaled four saves in the first half before being relieved by junior Dominic Lamolinara (Arnold, Md.) and redshirt freshman Ben Romagnoli (Cazenovia, N.Y.). Lamolinara and Romagnoli each recorded one save apiece.
Last year’s leading scorer, Tommy Palasek, paced the Alumni All-Stars with two goals. Al Cavalieri and Galloway took turns in the cage and each finished with three saves.
For the second year in a row, the Alumni Classic featured a Legends Game prior to the main event. The teams played two 25-minute halves of running time with the Orange defeating the Blue, 13-8. Jim Trowbridge led the Orange Legends with four points (three goals, one assist). Jamie Archer paced the Blue Legends with three goals and two assists.
Saturday's exhibition was the varsity team’s only fall scrimmage. Spring practice for the upcoming 2013 season begins in January.
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