SYRACUSE, N.Y. – With Army down one with three seconds left against third-ranked Syracuse, Cole Johnson got his hands free, but his shot rang off the post as the Black Knights fell, 9-8, to the Orange at the Carrier Dome on Sunday evening. Army (2-2) fought back from a from a four-goal deficit in the second half to tie the game at 8-8 with 4:38 remaining, but Tim Barber's goal for the Orange with 3:27 on the clock in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference. Connor Cook finished with a team-high three points on two goals and an assist. Both scores by the senior were during man-up situations. Johnson ended up with two points on a goal and an assist. The Black Knights had eight different goal scorers in the game. "We played hard right to the very end," head coach Joe Alberici said. "Give credit to Syracuse, they just made a couple more plays than we did." The defense was up to the task tonight as the group held the Orange to just 30 shots, after they put up 60 against Albany last week. AJ Barretto was solid and poised in the cage with 11 saves in his first action at the Carrier Dome. Austin Schultz turned in one of his best games of his career with two caused turnovers and two ground balls, but the stats don't tell the story. Schultz faced a great player in Dylan Donahue and held him to two points on a goal and an assist. Donahue had totaled 14 points in the Orange's first two games of the year. "Dylan Donahue is one of the best attackman in the country and Austin was up to the task today," Alberici stated. "We didn't give him much support in that matchup and Austin played a fundamentally sound game. Donahue is going to attack any flaw you have and with the way Austin played, we were able to stay with other cutters. I thought he was terrific." Syracuse (3-0) survived by Sergio Salcido and Derek DeJoe scoring two goals apiece. Ben Williams was impressive in faceoffs, winning 13-of-19. Warren Hill stopped 10 shots with five in each half. With less than a minute to go, Army turned the ball over on the offensive end and after a timeout, Johnny Surdick and Sam Finney forced the ball free on a double team and the Black Knights went the other way. A.J. Canara and Johnson streaked down the field, Johnson saw space against Brandon Mullins and bounced a shot that got by Hill, but clanged off the iron and time expired for the 9-8 win for the Orange. The Black Knights couldn't have asked for a better start as Army was up 3-2 at the end of the first quarter. Johnson got the game started with his eighth of the year coming with 11:25 on the clock. After DeJoe tied the game, Army answered with two-straight from Cook and Tim Coll. Cook's was an absolute snipe from the outside, while Coll's tally came during a man-up situation. Donahue got on the board for the only time with 25 seconds left in the quarter to make it a 3-2 Army lead at the end of the one. Syracuse gained its first lead with back-to-back goals from Nick Mariano and DeJoe with DeJoe's coming with 9:15 on the clock. The run continued in the quarter with Salcido scoring the first of his two on the day and the Orange had a 5-3 lead at the break. The Orange increased their lead to a game-best four goals at 7-3 in the first minute of the half with goals from Salcido and Nate Solomon. The Black Knights got their poise back and reeled off three-straight to get to within one with 8:25 left in the third quarter. Jimbo Moore scored his fourth of the year with a man-up tally, while Conor Glancy and Ted Glesener earned a spot on the scoresheet as well. Jordan Evans stopped the bleeding for Syracuse with his fifth of the year with 55 seconds left in the third and Army went into the final 15 minutes down 8-6. The Black Knights slice the lead to one with 8:47 left as Cook hit the net with a man-up score with a great set up by Nick Santorelli. Nate Jones then tied the game at the 4:38 mark as he beat Hill from the alley. Shea Mullins made an incredible feed to Jones to set up the game-tying goal at 8-8. Barber put the Orange back on top with 3:27 left, setting up the dramatic final minutes, but Syracuse held on for the 9-8 win. Army held a 34-30 shot advantage in the game and when it was called upon, the man-up unit came up huge with three goals on four chances. The Black Knights jump into league play next weekend with a visit to Lafayette on Saturday for a 12 p.m. start.