Matt Lerman walked to the sideline with his head down, ripping his helmet strap off along the way. A moment earlier, the Syracuse goaltender missed an easy save from nearly 20 yards out and the frustration was starting to set in.

With just seconds remaining in the first quarter, it seemed Maryland wouldn’t have time to add to its early lead. But the Terrapins snuck a desperation shot by Lerman with just one second remaining.

‘At the end of there, there were definitely a few where I thought I should have had them, and I felt bad that I let my teammates down and got into a little hole there,’ Lerman said.

Lerman struggled in his two quarters of action in Syracuse’s scrimmage against Maryland on Sunday in the Carrier Dome. The sophomore and frontrunner to open the season as the team’s starting goalie registered just two saves and allowed six goals in the Orange’s 11-9 win over the Terrapins in its third preseason scrimmage. Lerman seemed a split-second late on Maryland’s shot attempts, and SU went into the break trailing by four goals.

Dominic Lamolinara stepped in for Lerman in the second half and gave SU an impressive performance in net, making five saves and surrendering just three goals to keep Syracuse within striking distance. Neither Lerman nor Lamolinara saw action in the Orange’s 11-10 loss to Canisius in its second scrimmage of the day.

SU head coach John Desko said he will continue to look at the goalies and their play this week before deciding a definite starter for the season opener against Albany.

‘We’re going to stay with our goalies, but I think Dom played well, and especially in the first half against Maryland, the difference was the goalies,’ Desko said. ‘So we’re going to continue to evaluate.’

Lamolinara said he was motivated to beat Maryland, the school he transferred from this season.

‘I wanted to go out there, and I didn’t want to go out with a loss,’ Lamolinara said. ‘So I played to try to prove myself to get some playing time, and I wanted to also beat them as well.’

Syracuse wins crucial faceoffs late against Maryland

Ricky Buhr stepped into the faceoff X with the game on the line.

After SU midfielder Bobby Eilers tied the score at 9-9 with 49 seconds left, Buhr entered and knew the team that gained possession would be in the driver’s seat with a chance to win the game.

‘I went into that faceoff thinking, ‘I got this. I got this guy’s number right now. He’s feeling a little intimidated. I’m feeling very confident,” Buhr said. ‘And the only thing I was really thinking about was just getting that ball out.’

Buhr chased after the loose ball off the faceoff before being taken down by Maryland for a penalty that gave the Orange the ball and control of the game. SU scored on the possession to move ahead with 16 seconds left, and Buhr added another goal to finish the Orange’s 11-9 victory.

Syracuse looked overmatched on faceoffs through three quarters against the Terrapins on Sunday. The Orange won just 5-of-13 faceoffs in the first 45 minutes of action and entered the final quarter trailing by one. But Buhr came up with a huge performance in the final 15 minutes, leading SU as it won 6-of-8 faceoffs, including the final two with less than a minute left.

The troubles from last season appeared to carry into this matchup with Maryland right out of the gates.

Chris Daddio lost the first faceoff of the game and could only watch as the Terrapins sprinted down the field for a goal 11 seconds in.

For Desko, the early issues on faceoffs outweighed the strong finish for the Orange.

‘We’re not facing off well, individually or as a unit,’ Desko said. ‘We got better as the game went on, but we have to get better there.

Following Buhr’s crucial play to give the Orange possession after Eilers’ goal, Syracuse took a timeout with 35 seconds left. Then SU started its late-game possession, which ended with a goal by Kevin Rice to give the Orange a 10-9 lead.

Then it was up to Buhr to preserve the lead and prevent the Terrapins from getting any desperation chances as the clock expired.

And he rose to the occasion, scooping up the faceoff and racing down the field to score with seven seconds left, capping the 11-9 victory.

‘It definitely felt really great because it was my first goal in any scrimmage or game, and it was definitely the one that sealed the deal in that game,’ Buhr said.

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on February 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu