https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... -tie/55414
Fallball Scrimmage: Dordevic's Return, Scanlan's Debut as Denver and Syracuse Play to Tie
Sunday October 6th, 2019 9:30am
CORTLAND, N.Y. — Bill Tierney and John Desko converged at midfield’s large “C” and began to watch their teams warm up. With the lights beaming onto SUNY Cortland’s Athletic Complex, Denver and Syracuse weaved through passing drills and finished sets with shots on goal.
The two have 12 combined national championship trophies, and on Saturday were the first fall action for the other’s program during the second scrimmage of the C-Lax Legends Weekend.
After jumping out to a 4-2 lead after one quarter, Denver quickly fell behind with four unanswered goals by SU to open the second frame. From there, neither team had more than a three-goal lead until the Orange went up 15-11 with five minutes left in the fourth. But then Denver started its comeback, manufacturing enough goals — including the tying one with two seconds remaining — to end the scrimmage in a 15-15 tie.
Here’s a breakdown of each team following the scrimmage.
Syracuse
Curious about the actual length of time he’d been out, Tucker Dordevic picked up his iPhone yesterday and called for Siri. He knew his last game came against Cornell on April 10, 2018 —a 10-9 loss— but wasn’t positive how many days that added up to.
“509,” Dordevic’s phone answered. Looking back on it doesn’t make it seem that long, he said, but that wasn’t the case during the recovery stage. Saturday’s scrimmage marked the sophomore’s return to Syracuse’s lineup after missing the entire 2018 season due to a foot injury. As a freshman, Dordevic started all 15 games and notched 15 goals, creating a prominent role as a midfield for his final three years.
Less than five minutes into the Denver scrimmage, Dordevic corralled the ball after cutting to the attack area’s middle, swung his stick back and fired a shot past Pioneer goalie Josh Matte. Later in the second quarter, Dordevic faked a dodge on the left side before firing a cross-field pass to Owen Seebold, left alone behind the Pioneer defense.
“It was just awesome being back out there,” Dordevic said. “Had some butterflies at first, but it was just fun being back there.”
Dordevic’s return coincided with the Syracuse debut for one of the biggest transfers in recent history: Chase Scanlan. In his freshman season at Loyola, Scanlan tallied 43 goals and 58 points, complementing Tewaaraton Award winner Pat Spencer in a group that lasted until the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal.
Scanlan’s addition was supposed to provide balance and creativity to an offense that lost its top-two scoring options — Bradley Voigt and Nate Soloman — from last year. On Saturday night, 11 different SU players tallied points. Griffin Cook had a hat trick, including one on a third-quarter Pioneer miscue when a clear attempt was dropped and Cook launched a shot into a wide-open net. Scanlan, Dordevic, Brendan Curry and Jamie Trimboli all notched two goals for SU.
Early in the third quarter, Chase Scanlan scooped up a groundball near the left post, but was immediately swarmed. One Denver defender closed in, while another took a swing on his way by. Scanlan turned around and began to back in, closing off his counterpart, and swung a shot past Denver freshman goalie Kaleb Stroman.
“The attack did OK for the time of year it is,” Desko said
After a 9-5 record last year, one that included a 2-2 record in conference play, the Orange had two gaping holes to fill. One was its attack, which the pickup of Scanlan and the return of Dordevic seemed to fill at least for Saturday. The other was replacing Tyson Bomberry and Marcus Cunningham on defense, a pair that combined to start 84 games the last four seasons.
A rough first quarter on the defensive end put the Orange in an early hole, both Desko and Dordevic said. On many of Denver’s tallies in the first 15 minutes, SU goalie Drake Porter was often left alone to face a shot. Pioneers rotated behind the Orange defense and found ways to draw out defenders and create passing lanes. But SU sharpened up its defense for the next 42 minutes, only breaking down during Denver’s fourth-quarter comeback.
Denver
With an Orange player sitting in the penalty box, IL. No. 19 incoming freshman JJ Sillstrop waited patiently along the outside for the offensive set to formulate. He cradled the ball until his cutter, Sam Dwinell, pierced the Syracuse defense down the middle. Now all alone on Porter, Dwinell easily finished with four minutes left in the second quarter, tying the scrimmage at 7.
Dwinell, a sophomore, notched two first-half goals after only one in six games during a 10-5 season for the Pioneers. Second-leading scorer Austin French graduated with his 82 goals and 70 assists, but Denver brought in a Class of 2019 that consists of four players named to the Inside Lacrosse Power 100 Incoming Freshman — face-off specialist Alec Stathakis (No. 4), Sillstrop (No. 19), Reed Babcock (No. 90) and Jack Thompson (No. 92).
After the Pioneers regained possession following SU specialist Jacob Phaup’s opening-draw win, they consistently applied pressure in the SU end during the first 15 minutes.
“(We) had a lot of turnovers, didn’t clear the ball well, and Denver did some things to expose that,” Desko said. Jack Hannah and Johnny Marrocco also tallied first-half goals for Denver.
After splitting time with Alex Ready for the last three seasons, Josh Matte got the start in net for the Pioneers. Should Denver decide to split time in net during the season, something it has periodically done the past few seasons, then the play in net during the second quarter and beyond looked promising, too. Cole French played the second 15-minute frame, and in the final minute, stopped Seebold after he ducked near the crease and fired one from close range. Seebold scooped up the rebound and sent it across the field to an open Dordevic, but French knocked aside the final Syracuse chance of the half.
Stroman played goalie in the third quarter for Denver, while junior Tristan Wright [and Jack Thompson] overcame three-straight goals by the Orange to start the fourth quarter and held them scoreless during the Pioneers’ comeback in the final minutes.
“Denver has a different style, they have a number of Canadians that are one-handed players,” Desko said. “It took us a little while to adjust.”
Both schools continue their fall scrimmage seasons within the next two weeks, as Denver goes against Michigan on Oct. 13, while Syracuse holds its intrasquad scrimmage on Oct. 19.
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