Third-ranked Albany beat #5 Syracuse, 15-3, before 7,238 fans in the Carrier Dome on Saturday.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed with how we played today,” said head coach John Desko. “I have to give a lot of credit to Albany, and I told Scott Marr that afterwards. Their faceoff guy gave them all those extra possessions and it really put a strain on our defense. Hats off to him, he played great. He made a lot of good decisions and scored a goal.
Source: #8 Orange Outpaced by #3 Albany
The reality is that saying Cuse got “outpaced” by Albany is a gross understatement. In the world of SU Lacrosse, what happened to The Orange on Saturday is equivalent to a buddy crashing your house drunk and while you’re snoozing, he’s in the basement hooking up with your grandmother who’s in town for Thanksgiving.
This was a tale of two teams. One team showed up ready to play, featured a face off man that repeatedly showed his competition “who their daddy was” and who’s offensive talent proved they will once again lead the nation in scoring.
The other team left their fan base scratching their heads wondering what this means for the rest of the season.
I personally won’t be hitting the panic button yet. Syracuse has another shot at a ranked and very “game” opponent next week with Army coming to town. Thanks to TD Erlan playing for Albany and not Army, Cuse should match up far better and I expect to see a legit battle worthy of our time.
As for Albany, holy hell are these guys good. I’m an admitted and shameless Cuse homer and any loss normally launches me into a blind rage (crying fit). Yet I found myself oddly content (angry and sad) knowing that while Cuse didn’t look like a team that will still be playing come Memorial Day weekend, Albany certainly did, so I feel good knowing us upstate guys will have a dog in the fight come championship time.
Nanticoke was as dope as advertised and that’s going to open things up for Fields in a way he hasn’t seen since his sophomore year. It should be fun to watch play out.
So a bad day for Cuse, but a great day for upstate NY lacrosse in that Albany is a legit ass title contender.