Miles Thompson had nowhere to go. The Albany attack was helpless as he tried to break free from Brian Megill, who met him with shove after shove in the back.

Finally, Thompson crumbled under the constant pressure, flipping the ball high in the air across the field with no recipient in sight before getting knocked to the ground by Megill.

And as the ball rolled off the right sideline, the Syracuse defender motioned down the field with his right hand to signal the Orange would take possession with a chance to add to its six-goal lead.

‘I thought Megill did a great job on Miles and really kind of tied him up a little bit,’ Albany head coach Scott Marr said. ‘Miles is our quarterback, and so we see seven goals. If Miles has a day, maybe we’re at 10 or 11 goals, and it’s a different story.’

A dominant performance by the Syracuse defense helped carry the No. 7 Orange to a 12-7 victory over Albany in the Carrier Dome. The unit held Albany scoreless in the second and third quarters to build an insurmountable eight-goal lead heading into the final 15 minutes. The Orange kept its opponent off the scoreboard for a 40-minute span that stretched across all four quarters.

Led by Megill, who forced five turnovers and blanketed Albany’s top playmaker, the defense buckled down and limited the Great Danes’ opportunities after they jumped out to a 2-0 lead nearly eight minutes into the game.

With SU in a man-down situation after two illegal body check penalties, Albany capitalized for two goals in eight seconds. Albany was playing with confidence and thinking upset.

But SU didn’t panic and goaltender Matt Lerman gathered the defense for a quick talk.

‘I have a great defense in front of me,’ Lerman said. ‘We went down a couple men early, and Albany got their first quick one, and I just looked at Brian and brought everyone in and I told them to keep playing some good, solid defense and stay out of the penalty box, and I’ll have their back.’

Lerman and the defense kept Albany off the board for the final seven minutes of the opening quarter. Then the Orange offense started to click and evened the score at 2-2 heading into the second quarter.

That’s when the Syracuse defense ratcheted up the pressure even more. After firing off 12 shots in the first period, the Great Danes managed just four in the next 15 minutes.

Marr pinpointed his team’s lack of execution on offense in the second quarter as the difference in the game. The Great Danes continuously failed to get quality scoring chances.

Meanwhile, Syracuse’s offense registered six goals in the period to make up for the slow start.

‘They score a quick two on you, you think they’re going to try and get more,’ SU attack Tommy Palasek said, ‘but they held on down there and gave us the chance to score goals.’

After halftime, with a six-goal lead, Syracuse continued its brilliant performance on defense. Megill harassed Thompson into his frustrating turnover early.

And then the SU defender prevented a golden opportunity for Albany on its next possession.

Megill poked the ball away as Albany moved toward the net with what would have been a one-on-one with goaltender Dominic Lamolinara. The SU defender then scooped up the loose ball and cleared it, keeping the Great Danes from getting a shot from in close.

‘I thought our matchups were pretty good and the game plan going in,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘We really didn’t want to let those guys get too close to the goal because they are such good finishers.’

By the time Albany finally scored its third goal about four minutes into the fourth quarter, the once animated Great Danes’ sideline was emotionless aside from a few coaches clapping.

Marr and the Great Danes knew the game was already over. The scoreless second quarter was too much to overcome.

And Marr could only wonder how the story would have been different if the Syracuse defense hadn’t stifled his team in that decisive period.

‘We just executed poorly, especially on the offensive end,’ Marr said. ‘And I think if we had done a better job of that in the second quarter, the game wouldn’t have gotten out of hand.

‘We would have been in it at halftime, and it would have been a different game.’

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on February 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu