The reigning National Champions visited Loyola’s Curley Field and came out firing as they forged an insurmountable lead that Loyola (5-3) was unable to control. Although the final score, 17-6, seems to confirm the notion that this was truly a one-sided afternoon, even more demoralizing is that Loyola scored three goals in the final minutes against the Syracuse (6-2) reserves, after suffering a 9-1 halftime deficit. As usual Michael Powell was red hot all afternoon, while the Loyola offensive couldn’t find a pulse throughout the game.

The first quarter, which was host to four unanswered Syracuse goals, gave both teams chances to score, but only the Orangemen seized those opportunities. The first of those opportunities occurred when Powell found Steve Vallone on the doorstep of the crease. The two ensuing Loyola possessions were man up situations in which only one shot was attempted, unsuccessfully. On the other end of the field Syracuse’s offense continued to click with a Liam Banks score, followed by freshman Brian Crockett’s unassisted goal. To end the quarter and widen the lead to four, Powell had his first goal of the game making a hard move from X and beating a late slide.

The second quarter opened with a pair of Syracuse goals. The first, coming from Michael Springer, was flying over 100 mph and was shot just barely inside the restraining line, placed neatly above Loyola goalkeeper Mark Bloomquist’s helmet, awing the crowd. But the seemingly never ending deficit would be slowed when, with nearly 22 minutes played, Loyola has their first score of the day, coming with a Syracuse player in the box. Loyola captain Jim Fink was responsible for the score and was assisted by Stephen Brundage. That would amount to all of the offensive production that would come from the Greyhounds in the first half. Still, Syracuse’s barrage continued with a three goal run in the last 6 minutes of the half. Powell was involved in two of the final three goals and continued to draw much of the defensive attention with his speed and handle. The half ended with a final unsuccessful attempt to score from Loyola and a 9-1 Syracuse lead.

The second half was much of the same for both teams. One of the two Loyola goals in the third quarter came on a broken clear and was credited to Gunnar Goettelmann. The momentum in Syracuse’s favor was never stymied as they scored six of the next 7 goals. Powell was part of half of those scores. Throughout the second half, it was the Syracuse reserves that were shouldering both the offensive and defensive duties and were successful in doing so until Loyola’s last 3 goal run. Overall there was not much excitement in the second half, other then to see some new faces on the field. Syracuse dominated and that was clear from the start.

Loyola vs. Syracuse

Loyola

6

Scoring
Gunnar Goettelmann	(1, 1)
Pat Shek	(2, 0)
Stephen Brundage	(1, 1)
Rayland Baxter	(1, 0)
Jim Fink	(1, 0)

Saves
Mark Bloomquist	6 (0.273)
Trae Rodgers	2 (0.667)

Current Record
Loyola	5-3

Syracuse

17

Scoring
Michael Powell	(3, 4)
Michael Springer	(2, 2)
Liam Banks	(2, 2)
Sean Lindsay	(3, 0)
Brian Nee	(2, 1)
Steve Vallone	(2, 0)
Kyle Olson	(0, 1)
Zack Wallace	(1, 0)
Greg Rommel	(1, 0)
Brian Crockett	(1, 0)
Jarett Park	(0, 1)

Saves
Jay Pfeifer	8 (0.800)
Nick Donatelli	3 (0.429)

Current Record
Syracuse	6-2