Syracuse Wins Regular Season Finale
By Tyler Melito
CitrusTV’s Men’s Lacrosse Beat Reporter
Just mere hours before Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse(7-5, 2-4 ACC) took the field against Robert Morris(7-6) inside the Dome, news broke that was frankly much bigger than the game itself. That being attackman Chase Scanlan being arrested by Syracuse Police in relation to his April 18 domestic incident.
According to Onondaga County DA Bill Fitzpatrick, the 21-year old was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, as well as second-degree harassment and he is expected to be arraigned for his charges later Friday evening.
In regards to the arrest, Fitzpatrick would say; “Hopefully today’s arrest will put to rest the rumors that have been running rampant about this incident for the last couple of weeks and send a message that we take all incidents of domestic violence seriously, no matter where they are committed or by whom they are committed.”
Syracuse Athletics would issue a statement of their own, in which they said,
“We were notified today that Chase Scanlan has been arrested by the Syracuse Police Department. The Department of Athletics immediately convened the Athletics Privileges Committee to evaluate and determine appropriate action. As a result, Chase Scanlan has been suspended from all athletic participation. Per federal privacy laws, and to ensure a fair process, we cannot comment on active investigations or specific cases.”
A lot still to come in regards to Scanlan’s situation, but one the field, it did not seem to phase the Orange. Syracuse was ultimately able to pull out the victory, and a big one at that, winning 21-14 over the Colonials.
It was the Owen show in this one. Both Owen Hiltz and Owen Seebold had themselves career games for SU. First Hiltz, who had seven goals, two assists, and nine total points. The seven goals is the most by a freshman in a single game in Syracuse’s history. After what was a bit of a
slump following a one goal, five assist game against Holy Cross back on March 20. In his next four games, the freshman would have three goals and five assists. Still impressive but down from his hot start of 13 goals and ten assists in his first five career games. Over his last three games against Virginia, Notre Dame and Robert Morris, Hiltz has 12 goals, four assists and 16 total points(ironically that Virginia game was the first game the Orange played without Scanlan). The Ontario native now leads SU in goals on the season with 28.
Then there was Seebold. The redshirt-junior coming into today had a career high of two goals. He surpassed that within the first 15 minutes of the game, finishing with five goals and two assists for a total of seven points. Seebold has had a sort of coming out party this season, earning a much larger role. Prior to being inserted into the Orange’s starting lineup, Seebold had eight goals and three assists. Since being a part of SU’s starting attack line(which is the last three games), eight goals and four assists.
Postgame, Syracuse head coach John Desko would comment on the dynamic duo, saying, “Owen [Seebold] going down the stretch, the last five, six games, really playing with a lot of confidence. He wants the ball in his stick, he wants to make something happen… And then Owen, Owen Hiltz was pretty smart today. He understood their slide package. Put himself in spots where he knew his guy was going to slide from, got to the open spot and obviously scored seven goals today. I think the combination is good.”
That is not to say that Robert Morris went down easy, after all they did score 14 goals. The Colonials trailed by four at the end of the first half and that was largely due to the sheer dominance of Ryan Smith. RMU’s best player without question had five goals after the first 30 minutes, including an amazing goal with just one second remaining in the half. He would finish with seven goals in all.
By winning today, one would assume that the Cuse have done enough to earn an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. Although not official, finishing with a winning record certainly helps, despite not playing the greatest against their ACC competition not named Virginia.
Desko would say after the game that “We look at as a whole new season. We have played I think the one or two in strength of schedule. At a point last week…So I think that is going to help us.”
Now the Syracuse and their fans wait. They wait for Selection Sunday, where they will find out their fate for the tournament. That will take place on May 9.
tylermelito@gmail.com | @MelitoTyler
