SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Evan Molloy stomped out of the net, pointing to his flexed right bicep as blue jerseys streamed onto the field. Defender Scott Firman walked off slowly after a subtle fist pump.

Moments earlier, with 12.1 seconds to go and his team trailing by one, Notre Dame’s Brendan Gleason spun in front of the net and fired for the top right corner, looking for a hat trick and the equalizer. But Molloy raised his left shoulder and deflected the ball out of bounds. In Syracuse’s program-record run of one-goal games, that stretched to seven on Saturday, the defense never needed to protect a lead. Each regulation finish had been Syracuse scoring to tie or win.

“The (defense) usually waits for us,” said senior attack Nick Mariano, who had a season-high four goals in the win. “We waited for them, but we had fun watching. They stepped up big when we needed them to.”

On the restart, Notre Dame stayed away from its most dangerous weapon, sophomore attack Ryder Garnsey, because Firman had shut him off all day. Gleason wound up with the ball and tried the same move in front of the net until SU defender Marcus Cunningham slammed him in the back. Gleason fell, the ball popped free and the clock ran out.

No. 4 Syracuse (7-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) toppled top-ranked Notre Dame (5-2, 1-1), 11-10, at Arlotta Stadium on Sunday as the Orange avenged its 17-7 embarrassment to the Fighting Irish last season in the Carrier Dome on its 100th year anniversary game. Molloy and Firman have served as the anchors for a Syracuse team that finds itself settling in just now. True freshman Jamie Trimboli displaced Matt Lane on the first midfield line and, after a nearly season-long timeshare with freshman Nick DiPietro, Cunningham dominated the third defensive spot on Sunday and came up with Saturday’s biggest play.

“We’ve been talking this whole year,” Desko said, “still trying to figure out who we were. I think we got that (today).”

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The postgame reactions of Molloy flexing and Firman calmly walking exhibited the personality differences between the two — Molloy calls Firman, “The Phantom,” and Firman rolls his eyes — and each, at least a year ago, would have seemed like unlikely heroes in an unlikely SU win streak.

Molloy backed up Warren Hill until he got his first chance last year in the 17-7 loss. He usurped Hill the next week. Firman played long-stick midfield until this season, when he became the top close defender because of two graduations and a season-ending injury. He responded by limiting stars — Albany’s Connor Fields, Johns Hopkins’ Shack Stanwick and Duke’s Justin Guterding — to well below their season averages. This week, his old position mates shut down star midfielder Sergio Perkovic while he took care of Garnsey. Perkovic and Garnsey, who combined for 24 goals entering the game, had just one apiece.

“(Garnsey) is a really good player, really crafty,” Firman said. “I did a pretty decent job on him. The guys slid well to him when we needed to, and we got good saves. (Evan) was as great as any day. … He makes a ton of saves that he probably shouldn’t.”

Molloy made seven of them on 17 total shots on goal, none more difficult than on a rocket from Perkovic, who can shoot 111 miles per hour, with 8:13 to go. He fell to his knees and took it off the thighs to preserve an 11-9 lead, which proved even more valuable when Brendan Collins scored 86 seconds later. The Fighting Irish turned over its next possession, then Molloy lunged to his left to stone Bryan Constabile with 2:56 remaining and those were the best chances UND could generate.

Notre Dame’s best hope at tying the game, Garnsey, watched his teammates try to beat Molloy around the outline of Firman.

“Right now,” Desko said. “I think we know who we are.”

Published on April 1, 2017 at 2:27 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR