GENEVA — Hobart and Syracuse’s strengths are inherently at odds.

The firepower of the Statesmen’s lacrosse team lies in its No. 2 nationally ranked offense. The Orange’s core is their deep and experienced defensive unit.

One had to prevail over the other and both coaches — Syracuse’s John Desko and Hobart’s Greg Raymond — knew it.

“If you don’t understand that you’ve gotta beat some guys, your offense won’t click,” Raymond told The Daily Orange on Monday. “So we’ve got to find a happy medium there and make sure that we are understanding how to move that defense.”

No. 20 Hobart (8-2, 2-0 Northeast) scored a season-low five goals in a 17-5 loss to No. 11 Syracuse (6-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) at Urick Stadium. Following three-straight comeback wins and, finally, too big a hole to overcome in a loss to Notre Dame on Saturday, Desko was flummoxed by his team’s seeming inability to start games as hot as it had been finishing them.

But three days removed from an 11-goal first-half blistering at the hands of the Irish, Syracuse held the second-highest scoring offense in college lacrosse to just five goals. As a result, the Orange hung onto the Kraus-Simmons Trophy for the sixth-straight year and captured Desko’s 250th career win.

“Especially in the second half,” Desko said, “when we started to pull away, a lot of that had to do with Drake (Porter) and the defense.”

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Syracuse and Hobart played for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy 33 times prior to Tuesday, the Statesmen winning thrice — the only win at home came in 1986, the first year of the trophy. The Orange have held it since 2014. The chalice represents more than just central New York lacrosse bragging rights. It stands for Hobart’s position beneath Syracuse — the winner of 24 of the last 26 matchups between the two — in the echelons of college lacrosse.

And on Tuesday, the Orange reaffirmed that. Syracuse dominated the Statesmen defensively, shutting out Hobart in the second half. Prior to Tuesday, the Statesmen scored at least one goal in every quarter played.

“To come here and really dominate the game was very good for us,” attack Bradley Voigt said.

On the first possession of the game, Hobart’s high-powered offense whipped the ball around. As SU’s defense morphed out of shape and shooting lanes widened, a skip pass flew across the Orange’s offensive zone into defender Nick Mellen’s stick, jumpstarting the offense. That possession turned into a Stephen Rehfuss goal 33 seconds later.

Matched on attack Chris Aslanian, the Statesmen’s leading facilitator, Mellen smothered his mark. Aslanian came into Tuesday’s game with 26 assists and half as many goals. He finished with 26 assists and half as many goals. He was left moving side to side from the X, flipping passes to teammates outside the numbers.

Locking off the source of so many assists forced Hobart’s other goal scorers to fare for themselves, hunting for space against SU’s close defenders and defensive midfielders. Even when attackers found a sliver of space, Porter nullified their efforts.

A game removed from being benched in favor of Luke Strang following an 11-goal, six-save half against Notre Dame, Porter parried 16 total shots, including 10 in the first half. As the Hobart offense peppered Porter with shot after shot — 18 in the first quarter — he turned them away.

“I honestly think the goalie got us thinking a little bit,” Raymond said. “And we got a little haywire with some of our possessions.”

The defense that came out “flat-footed” over the weekend started hot and ended hotter on Tuesday. After forcing a turnover on Bradley Simas with the score freshly tied at five, the Orange pushed the ball ahead and took a 6-5 lead.

The Statesmen didn’t score another goal, getting shut out for the final 37:44. All the while, Syracuse kept turning its defense into offense. Seven times, within a minute of a Hobart turnover, the Orange scored a goal. There was Mellen’s early takeaway kick-starting the break and Simas’s fumble in the offensive zone, tied at five.

Voigt rubbed Hobart’s nose in it with less than 10 minutes to play. After turning it over to Sam Lucchesi, the Statesmen’s goalie, Voigt stuck his stick up in the air. Lucchesi’s attempted clear went right into the head of Voigt’s stick.

Standing on the edge of the crease, suddenly in possession, Voigt calmly wrapped his stick around the left side of his neck and poked in a behind-the-back shot. At that point, the remaining smattering of Hobart fans trudged to the exits.

It was the performance Desko had been yearning for after a comeback finally fell short. The Orange finally got stung for their slow starts and, at least for one night, looks to have learned their lesson.

It’s also a reminder that even on its own field, Syracuse dominates Hobart.

“All in all, a very good day for Syracuse lacrosse,” Desko said.

Published on April 2, 2019 at 9:02 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham