What Gary Gait and Joey Spallina said after Syracuse’s 20-2 win over St. Joseph's

Syracuse improved to 2-0 after thrashing Saint Joseph’s (0-1) 20-2 on Saturday. The No. 2 Orange lived up to their ranking as they were in control from start to finish never letting the Hawks threaten an upset.

Senior goalie Jimmy McCool was once-again impressive with 10 saves before being pulled in the fourth period. The big test arrives Friday as No. 1 Maryland comes to the Dome.

Here are three takeaways from the commanding victory over Saint Joseph’s.

Drew Angelo provides a spark at the X

Junior faceoff specialist John Mullen started the game 1-4 at the faceoff X before giving way to sophomore Drew Angelo to start the second period. Angelo won his first faceoff leading to a goal, which led to him taking two of six remaining faceoffs that period.

He reentered in the fourth period to take the first five faceoffs before being replaced by freshman John Olenik. Angelo went 5-8 for the afternoon collecting three ground balls in the process. He also scored directly off a faceoff win early in the fourth period.

Angelo appeared in seven games as a freshman going 6-18, but went 0-3 again Boston University in the season opener. His role as the backup is important for Syracuse in cases where Mullen is struggling.

No problems against the 10-made ride

Syracuse had very little trouble with clears as Saint Joseph’s used a 10-man ride. They took a patient approach breaking down the press with short and effective passes. In the first period they were 6-6 on clears without any turnovers.

They were 17-20 on clears for the game with 10 turnovers. They opened up space nicely by moving a midfielder into attack during buildup which outnumbered the Hawks’ defensively.

“[Syracuse] mixed up a couple things in the clear, namely, sending their LSM down the middle early so they weren't subbing guys out,” Hawks head coach Scott Meehan said.

Syracuse punished the Hawk’s strategy in the third period with senior defender Billy Dwan III scoring from long range on an open net. It was a great improvement from the first game of the year and something they emphasized in practice.

“I think it really helped the fact that we were in the Dome all week,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “It helped with clearing, just to get comfortable in here... I think it really made a difference.”

A clean rehearsal before the big test

Friday’s game against the top-ranked Terps starts a slate that sees the Orange match up against three straight ranked opponents including No. 2 Princeton. It was important they played a clean game against Saint Joseph’s and not give themselves trouble with an inferior opponent.

The Orange notably had more groundballs, faceoff victories and caused more turnovers. They also went 4-4 on man-up opportunities while not conceding on their only two man-down occasions.

Seniors McCool and Joey Spallina both had standout games. Spallina had eight points and passed Gait for all-time career total points. Their performances will be especially important for the Orange during the upcoming gauntlet Syracuse faces.

"It's like [Saint Joseph’s] were shooting a beach ball,” Spallina said. “When Jimmy's playing like that, it gives the offense some confidence.”

Syracuse also spread the wealth offensively with 11 players scoring goals. Along with Angelo, freshmen Ted Rawson and Bogue Hahn scored their first collegiate goals. Junior Wyatt Hottle also stayed sharp, scoring twice in the first period following a 3-point performance against BU.

“I think it makes it difficult for opponents to game plan when you have a lot of different goal-scorers in the game,” Gait said. “If you consistently do that it’s really tough to cover and game plan for.”

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