Syracuse Retains Kraus-Simmons Trophy and Ivy League with a Clean Sweep on the Night

Yale quietly moved to 9-2 on the season with a 9-8 win in the battle of the Bulldogs.  Jameson Love did all he could to keep Bryant in the game as he made 15 stops on the night.

Yale is sitting at #18 in the country right now and will be crushed come tournament time due to their strength of schedule.  They are one of those teams that really dont have any "great" wins on their resume.  Yes they beat Princeton, but the Tigers are having an off year.  Their strongest wins are against Brown and Lehigh. 

With losses to Cornell and UPenn, its hard to get a read on the Bulldogs of Yale.  A strong Ivy League torunament showing will tell us a little more about the Bulldogs and also give them a chance to make the tournament with an AQ bid.

At one point Yale sat at 4-0 and we were praising them as one of the only undefeateds left in the country.  They were being put in the same sentences as Syracuse and Notre Dame.  Five wins and two losses later, noone is really saying much about Yale but that could all change with big games to close out the season: At Georgetown and at Harvard. 

Dartmouth and Brown also had wins last night as the Ivy League went a perfect 3-0 on the night.

Syracuse and Hobart with the Kraus-Simmons trophy on the line for the 26th straight year last night and the Orange kept the trophy on campus for the 24th time.  With the 13-7 win, the Orange now move to 11-1 on the year. 

With a healthy John Lade back in the lineup, the defense looked much improved and you can see how much of a leader Lade is to the defensive unit.  Lade guarded Hobart's leading scorer Sam Miller and held him to one goal on the night. 

"It’s great to keep the Kraus-Simmons Trophy here in Syracuse.  The building we walk into every day is called the Roy Simmons Sr. (Coaches) Center. Roy Simmons Jr. was up in the box watching the game and Roy Simmons III is on the staff. It brings a little more importance to this game having the trophy and having the Simmons family watching us play."  -John Desko

The offense seemed to get some life back last night, which was key for last nights game and will be key for Saturdays matchup against Rutgers, as these two wins are almost trap games before a big matchup with Notre Dame. 

The offense put 45 shots on net, went three for five on man up and ten different players scored.  This win and Saturdays game will serve as a way for the Orange to re-charge their offense before the post season.

The game was never as close as the score made it seem, the Orange really dominated this game from start to finish.  Good to see the face-off unit go 50 percent on the night as they were going up against the fourth best face-off man in the country.  Hobart's Bobby Datillo went 12-23 in the game, and the quartet of Jeremy Thompson, Josh Knight, Chris Daddio and Ricky Buhr helped pace the Orange offense.

For all the skpetics out there who have been trash talking Joel White, well he was back at it last night with 10 groundballs, two caused turnovers and one shot on goal.  Not a bad night for the long stick midfielder.

Key to the Orange offense is the late season play of senior Josh Amidon.  He had one goal and two assists last night, and the first midfield unit of Amidon, Jovan Miller and Thompson combined for four goals and eight points, as well as 13 shots on goal.

What more can you say about Kevin Drew and his play as the top defensive midfielder for the Orange.  He had a career best two goals last night and quietly plays almost every play of the game and takes on some of the nations best offensvie players.

Also good to see the second midfield unit, the melange that it is, get some goals and confidence behind them.  Junior Bobby Eilers and redshirt sophomore Pete Coleman added goals, as well as freshman Scott Loy, who has been given alot of trust from head coach John Desko.