Tucker Dordevic's Career Day Leads Syracuse Past Stony Brook
Syracuse men's lacrosse played Stony Brook tight in the first half of their Long Island matchup on Saturday afternoon.
Through two quarters, both teams scored five goals, shot around 20 times and caused two turnovers. Bobby Gavin stopped eight shots in the first half and Stony Brook goalie Anthony Palma made seven first-half saves.
But six goals from Tucker Dordevic, three more from Brendan Curry and Owen Seebold, and five unanswered third-quarter goals helped the Orange (3-4) to a 14-9 win, their first in nearly two weeks.
"Stony Brook was a solid team who played very well and allowed us to play our best. Third and fourth quarter we stepped it up," coach Gary Gait said. "We're still working to get to that next level and win some games, and we made a good step today I thought finishing this one."
Gavin, in his first playing time since SU's win over Hobart, stopped 13 shots. The Syracuse defense forced 10 turnovers and played a more complete game in back-to-back weeks after conceding just 10 goals to Johns Hopkins last weekend. The Orange allowed four second-half Stony Brook goals and outscored the Seawolves 9-4 in the final 30 minutes.
Nick Caccamo, a Centerport, New York, native who said he grew up attending Stony Brook lacrosse games, limited the Seawolves' top-scorer Dylan Pallonetti to just two goals.
"I've had this date circled ever since we found out we were playing (Stony Brook)," Caccamo said. "It's a very tight-knit community on Long Island. We knew this was going to be a packed-out game, a lot of friends and family coming."
Dordevic scored five of his career-high six goals in the second half and shot 50% on 12 shots. Dordevic said he didn’t think he shot well in the first half, but the career-best stat line was an improvement from the three goals on 15 shots he registered against Johns Hopkins. Dordevic also dished three assists and finished with nine points.
"In the second half we were just getting looks that were a little more open, we had our hands free a little longer," Dordevic said. "We kind of just realized if we start to play a little more cohesively, we'd get better shots and better looks on the cage."
Syracuse is still looking for its first win against a ranked opponent. SU also hasn't strung consecutive wins together yet this spring. They'll have a chance to accomplish both of those against No. 12 Duke next Saturday.
SUPPORT ALL SYRACUSE
SUBSCRIBE TO ALLSYRACUSE.COM NOW TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE INSIDER CONTENT
JOIN THE ALL SYRACUSE FORUMS FOR FREE AND DISCUSS THE ORANGE WITH OTHER FANS AND OUR STAFF