Washington, DC – On a beautiful sunny day at Georgetown, the Syracuse Orangeman were able to outlast the Georgetown Hoyas. Mike Powell broke his brothers’ Syracuse Point record with 6 points (3,3). In goal, Jay Pfeifer added 19 saves for ‘Cuse. Brian Crockett contributed with 4 goals, and Brian Nee did his part with 3 goals and 2 assists. For Georgetown, freshman Trevor Casey added three goals with sophomore Sean Denihan contributing two goals and an assist. Andy Corno won 18 of 24 faceoffs for Georgetown.

Syracuse took an early 1-0 lead within the first two minutes, though I missed it due to a parking lot debacle (i.e. Georgetown didn’t have enough spots). It wouldn’t be until the 7:41 mark that Neal Goldman found Sean Denihan on the crease. Goldman had recovered the ball off an errant Hoya shot and found Denihan who brought the game to 1-1. Mike Powell would respond a minute later for Syracuse on the man-up opportunity as he gathered a rebound off a Rich D’Andrea save.

Georgetown’s Trevor Casey took a Brice Queener pass and knotted the game once again to end a long Georgetown possession. A minute later, Sean Denihan found himself all alone at X as he picked up a groundball and proceeded to wrap around and give the Hoyas their first lead of the day. Brian Crockett took a Brian Nee pass and ended the first period at a 3-3 tie, displaying Syracuse’s great ability to move the ball.

The seesaw game between these two evenly matched teams continued throughout the second quarter. Powell found Crockett early to give Syracuse the 4-3 lead. Georgetown’s Neal Goldman got into the act as he finished a fast break. Powell had attempted a no-look pass on the offensive side, when it didn’t connect, Georgetown gathered the groundball and started the fast break and proved that Syracuse wasn’t the only team that could move the ball with precision.

Off of a deadball at the 12-minute mark, Georgetown sent a shortstick defenseman behind to cover Brian Nee who was taking the ball in. Nee made them pay as he drove right past the defender and put Syracuse up 5-4 without a slide coming. Walid Hadjj, typically known for his offensive abilities, started the offense as he stripped a Syracause offensive player. Brian Young scooped up the ball for the fast break, and proceeded to go the length of the field until he found Trevor Casey who knotted the game once again. Georgetown would add one more goal before the half to take the lead 6-5 at the intermission. Georgetown held a very decided 10 for 13 face-off advantage. The dominance in the face-off X allowed them to control the ball for a lot of the first half.

Syracuse would start the 2nd half with their own two goal run. Mike Powell beat Georgetown defenseman, Brodie Merrill, top-side at the 10:10 mark to tie the game again. Greg Rommell got into the act forty seconds later as he drove from up and was able to get his defenseman turned around. He proceeded to bury a nice lefty shot giving the Orangemen the 7-6 lead. Not to be outdone, Georgetown responded with a man-up goal from Trevor Casey (assisted by Sean Denihan) and then sophomore John Lasky drove hard beating Syracuse goalie, Jay Pfeifer, with a high-to-high left-handed shot. Georgetown had what would wind up being their last lead of the day, 8-7.

Sean Lindsay tied the game for the last time as he threaded the needle across Georgetown’s man-down defense to find Powell who had to jump to catch the pass. Powell caught it and finished the play in mid-air, and was able to come down just short of the crease line. Brian Nee would put Syracuse up 9-8, as he ripped a lefty shot past D’Andrea again on the man-up opportunity as he found himself all alone as he slowly drifted up above the net until he had the angle needed to score. Pfeifer would insure Syracuse’s 9-8 lead heading into the 4th quarter, as he stoned a Georgetown attacker one-on-one from point blank range at the 1 minute mark (see pictures).

The 4th quarter would be pretty much all Syracuse as again on the man-up opportunity Mike Powell fed the ball across the entire Hoya defense to find Brian Nee who put ‘Cuse up 10-8. The goal also gave Mike Powell the assist he needed in order to tie his brothers, Casey and Ryan. Nick Miaritis would keep the game close as he added an unassisted goal off of a perfectly placed lefty shot.

At the 12:17 mark, Mike Powell found Brian Crockett for Syracuse’s 11th goal, but it also gave him his 288th career point, moving him into first place on the all-time scoring list. There seemed to be some confusion, because despite the fact that the Georgetown announcer was saying pretty much anything you needed to know about the game (i.e. whenever a new middie line came on, or immediately after a save), there was no mention of Powell’s feat. The standing applauding Syracuse fans, however, gave a good indication. Powell’s body language didn’t give it away either, as he just walked away from the assist as if it were just any plain assist.

It would take nearly nine minutes for either team to strike again, but Sean Lindsay and Brian Crockett added late goals to give the Syracuse the 13-9 out-of-conference win. The difference in the game seemed to be the intensity Syracuse played with. Their short-stick defensive middies came up with quite a few second half turnovers by stripping the Georgetown middies. Jay Pfeifer also proved invaluable in net, with the point blank save at the end of the 3rd period, which would have changed the momentum in the game. Not to mention his 19 other saves. It is also noteworthy that Georgetown’s shot selection seemed to be a bit below par, making Pfeifer and Syracuse’s day a bit easier.

Another main difference was the penalties in the game. Syracuse was able to take advantage of three penalties (their 8th, 9th and 10th goals), which proved to be the difference in the game. Syracuse also was able to kill a 2-man down 1 minute penalty. For the last 5 seconds they were three men down, but their defense held strong.

In talking with Mike Powell after the game, he mentioned one of the big things they knew coming in would be to match Georgetown’s intensity. They knew going in that it was Georgetown’s last regular season home game, and that their seniors would come out firing. Both teams finished their regular season and now await their NCAA tournament seedings.

Georgetown vs. Syracuse

Georgetown

9

Scoring
Sean Denihan	(2, 1)
Trevor Casey	(3, 0)
Neal Goldman	(1, 1)
Nick Miaritis	(2, 0)
Brice Queener	(0, 1)
Kyle Morin	(0, 1)
John Lasky	(1, 0)
Brian Young	(0, 1)

Saves
Rich D'andrea	10 (0.435)

Current Record
Georgetown	10-3

Syracuse

13

Scoring
Michael Powell	(3, 3)
Brian Nee	(3, 2)
Brian Crockett	(4, 0)
Sean Lindsay	(1, 1)
Steve Vallone	(1, 0)
Greg Rommel	(1, 0)
Kevin Dougherty	(0, 1)

Saves
Jay Pfeifer	19 (0.679)

Current Record
Syracuse	11-2