Derek Maltz Shines for Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse Against Hobart, 13-12

GENEVA, N.Y. – Sophomore Derek Maltz (Ashburn, Va.) became the first Orange player since 2008 to score six goals in a game, and No. 15 Syracuse (7-5) survived a second-half Hobart scare to defeat the Statesmen (3-8), 13-12, on Tuesday, April 17 at Boswell Field and secure the Kraus-Simmons Trophy for the sixth straight season.

Five of Maltz’s six goals came in the first half as Syracuse built a 10-4 halftime advantage before Hobart outscored SU, 8-3, in the final 30 minutes. Senior Bobby Eilers (Simsbury, Conn.) and redshirt freshman Henry Schoonmaker (Portland, Ore.) also registered multi-goal games for SU, while Brian Megill (Clark, N.J.) scored his first collegiate goal and collected a career-high nine ground balls.

Despite winning just 10-of-28 faceoffs in the game, Syracuse generated most of its first-half offense by forcing the Statesmen into 11 turnovers in the opening 30 minutes. Hobart had 22 total turnovers in the game to Syracuse’s 10, while the Statesmen held a slight 36-35 edge in ground balls.

Syracuse used an extended possession to take a 1-0 lead a little more than four minutes into the contest as Tommy Palasek (Rocky Point, N.Y.) threw a long pass out to Eilers, who then fired a bullet past Hobart goalie Peter Zonino (18 saves) for the score.

After Bobby Wardwell (Clifton Park, N.Y.) made back-to-back saves midway through the first quarter on shots from tough angles, the Orange quickly countered with three goals in just 58 seconds from Maltz (two) and Schoonmaker. The Statesmen got on the board with 6:36 left in the first as Sam Miller threw a low shot past Wardwell for his 20th goal of the season.

With SU on the man-up with less than three minutes left in the first quarter, Palasek and Eilers connected again as Palasek threaded a pass from behind the net out to the SU captain for Eilers’ third man-up goal of the season. Hobart answered 18 seconds after the Eilers tally on a goal from Cam Stone on a bounce shot past Wardwell.

Hobart cut the SU lead to 5-3 in the first minute of the second quarter when Taylor Vanderbeek took a pass from Stone and sent a shot through Wardwell, but Maltz netted his third of the night to regain the SU three-goal edge two minutes later. After the Statesmen made it 7-4, Maltz got behind the Hobart defense, took a pass from Marasco and beat Zonino again.

After Maltz goal made it 9-4 Orange, Megill netted his first career goal when he picked up a loose ball, sped down the field and fired a shot past Zonino to extend the SU lead to six.

Hobart put the Orange defense to the test coming out of the halftime break, and scored five of the quarter’s six goals to make it an 11-9 game. Five different Statesmen scored during the run, while Alex Love netted two goals in the span. Palasek, who scored the lone SU goal in the third quarter, nearly converted on a second in the waning seconds of the period, but was stoned by Zonino on a shot from just outside the crease.

Maltz came to the rescue once again for the Orange in the fourth quarter with SU’s third man-up goal of the game, but Branden Kessler’s first career goal 66 seconds later brought Hobart back within two at 12-10 with 10:11 left in regulation.

Redshirt senior Tim Desko (Syracuse, N.Y.) picked up his first of the game with 6:06 left in the fourth on a shot that was deflected on its way to goal, but the resilient Hobart attack answered again as Sam Miller capitalized on a SU turnover near the cage and beat Wardwell to cut the SU lead to 13-11 with 3:41 remaining.

Love’s man-up goal with 8.4 seconds left in regulation made it 13-12, and SU killed the final seconds to secure the Kraus-Simmons Trophy.

Syracuse returns home on Saturday, April 21 to host Georgetown at 3 p.m. in its regular-season finale. Tickets are available online, at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B) or by calling 1-888-DOMETIX.

Game Notes: Syracuse won the Kraus-Simmons trophy for 25th time in the 27 times it’s been awarded … Maltz is the first Orange player since Kenny Nims in 2008 against Villanova to score six goals in a game … In addition to scoring his first career goal, Megill registered his first multi-point night by adding an assist … He also collected a career-best nine ground balls … Junior JoJo Marasco (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) extended his point scoring streak to 20 straight games with an assist on Maltz’ second goal of the game … Eilers has three straight two-goal games … Maltz scored at least three goals for the fourth time this season, and scored at least four for the second straight game … Syracuse scored a season-high three extra-man goals for the second consecutive game.

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