Maryland-Syracuse Lacrosse: Terps double up Orange 16-8

After two early blowout wins vs in-state foes Mount Saint Mary's and UMBC, the young Terrapins went on the road in their first big test of the season vs the Syracuse Orange. It was the first time Maryland had made the trip up to Syracuse and the Carrier Dome since 1983 and they came away with an emphatic 16-8 win over the Syracuse Orange.

The 1st Quarter wa exciting and back and forth, with the Orange jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. Matt Rambo got the Terps on the board, before Henry Schoonmaker answered with a bounce shot to put the Orange up 3-1. Mike Chanenchuk side-armed a shot that trickled past Lamolinara in goal for the Orange and the Terps cut the lead to 1. Maryland controlled the TOP and forced several Syracuse turnovers, and tested Lamolinara in the Syracuse cage multiple times but couldn't get another goal and it was 3-2 Orange after 1.

Syracuse got on the mark first in the 2nd Quarter, before Carlson scored in transition to cut the lead to 1. Raffa then completely took over from the draw and the floodgates opened. Henry West tied it at 4, and Cannizzaro added two in a row to put the Terps up 6-4 and give them their first lead of the game. Maryland would strike twice again in the next 22 seconds with goals from Carlson on an EMO and Raffa off the draw. The bleeding continued with a goal from Rambo that saw a goalie change from John Desko. Bobby Wardwell came in for SU but Raffa scored right from the draw and it was 10-4. Syracuse was able to slow it down and establish some control and possession over the next few minutes, getting a goal from Hakeem Lecky and gaining an EMO. The Terps killed it off and Chanenchuk promptly answered to put Maryland back up 6. UMD would add one more from Forster on the doorstep and led 12-5 at the half, leaving the crowd in the Carrier Dome stunned.

As expected, Charlie Raffa was the main key of the half for the Terps, winning 13/19 FO's that sparked a 10-1 Maryland run midway through the 2nd Quarter and the rout was officially on.

Carlson got his hat trick scoring the first tally of the 3Q, working inside and scoring to put the Terps up 13-5. After a bizarre sequence which included a SU throwaway, and an empty net miss by Cannizzaro, Connor put it in immediately after to get his hat-trick and run the lead to 9 and Joe LoCascio added another soon after to put Maryland up 10. SU would add a goal with 1:34 left, and that would be the end of scoring in the 3rd with the Terps up 16-6.

Maryland would then promtly kill off a Syracuse EMO to start the 4th Quarter. After a rather timid next 9 minutes or so, Randy Staats scored the 1st goal of the 4Q with a whistler of a shot to make the score 16-7 in favor of Maryland. The score would remain the same until just about 2 seconds left with Henry Schoonmaker getting a hat trick and Maryland came away with a dominant 16-8 win.

Charlie Raffa certainly would qualify as the MVP of the game for the Terrapins, dominating all day long at the face-off X, and his play sparked the dominant 2nd Quarter run for Maryland. Jay Carlson and Connor Cannizzaro, the latter returning home to New York to play in front of his friends and family, both tallied hat tricks. Matt Rambo, Mike Chanenchuk, and Charlie Raffa all tallied 2 for the Terps.

This win is a huge, and significant early season marker laid down by the Terrapins and will be one to enjoy, but not for long. Maryland soon will have to turn their attention to next Saturday and another top ACC team, the #1 Duke Blue Devils, back at home at Byrd Stadium.