Orange Outlasts Johns Hopkins in Overtime

By Nick Dugan

BALTIMORE, M.D. — Brendan Bomberry had been held in check by the stingy Johns Hopkins defense all afternoon. But in overtime, Bomberry found a sliver of room inside, received the pass from a dodging Sergio Salcido and sent the Orange back to Central New York with an 8-7 victory over the Blue Jays.

After the game, the Denver transfer recounted the magnitude of his 13th goal of the season.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “Especially being in this rivalry for the first time and to score the overtime winning goal, you can’t ask for much more.”

Before the 56th meeting between the two storied programs even began, the fans were treated to some pregame fireworks. During the teams’ pregame warmups, a handful of players on either side began talking to each other near midfield, which soon escalated into a shoving match. Both sides started the game a man down, with Jordan Evans and Wilkins Dismuke serving one minute non-releasable penalties for the Orange and the Blue Jays, respectively.

“That’s just Syracuse-Hopkins, I think,” goalie Evan Molloy said. “Guys are just fired up.”

The altercation did not do much to rev the teams’ offenses, however, as the first 30 minutes of play yielded just five total goals. After an unassisted Joel Tinney tally put the Blue Jays up 2-1, the Orange scored four straight goals to put them up 5-2 early in the third quarter.

For Molloy, preparation was the key to limiting the Johns Hopkins offense all day long.

“We were communicating really well,” he said. “We were just talking about it, they didn’t have many goals in the 6-on-6 set … Everybody knew their assignments. We worked hard this week on being prepared and I think it payed off.”

The Blue Jays would respond in the second half, scoring five goals, including three in the final quarter of play. Face-off specialist Hunter Moreland contributed to the uptick in offense; Moreland went 8-of-12 from the face-off X down the stretch.

“I was really excited to get out there, you know, and make a little difference, provide a little spark,” Moreland said. “I thought we did really well off the wings today; it was huge. Guys are getting in there and making plays on the ball, which really helps me out even more.”

After taking a one-goal lead with 5:58 left in the fourth quarter, the Johns Hopkins defense looked determined to hold on to a lead to grab its first victory since Feb. 25. But, with 34 seconds left, Nick Mariano caught a feed from Jamie Trimboli and finished over his shoulder.

“I didn’t even think [Trimboli] was going to throw me the ball,” Mariano admitted. “Threw me the ball, caught it, shot it as fast as I could. Obviously I didn’t look or anything … right in front of the net and it went in.”

After winning just one face-off in the fourth quarter, Ben Williams won the only face-off of the extra frame to give Syracuse posession and the eventual game winning goal.

“Big for us to be down here,” Desko said. “It’s our second road game; it’s never easy to play at Homewood. It’s great to come out with a win.”

The Orange will return home and return to ACC play as they host Duke on Saturday, March 25. Game time is set for 1:30 PM.