SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The third-ranked Orange (5-1) used a stifling defense and explosive offense to cruise to a 16-2 victory against Binghamton (2-2) in front of a season-best home crowd of 5,011 fans at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, March 22. Ten different players scored for Syracuse, and Binghamton's two goals were the fewest for an SU opponent since the Orange held Penn to one on April 29, 1989 in a 22-1 triumph.

Senior attackman Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) led the Orange offense with four goals and one assist. Leveille extended his consecutive games with a point streak to 45, tying Tom Abbott for the ninth-longest streak in team history. It's also the second-longest active streak in the country. Leveille's four goals increased his career total to 99. He is one shy of becoming the 21st player in school history to score 100 goals.

The Orange jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first quarter and led 7-1 at the half. Binghamton's first goal of the game didn't come until the 3:40 mark of the second quarter as the SU defense held the Bearcats scoreless for the first 26:20.

Junior attackman Kenny Nims (Watertown, N.Y.) opened the game's scoring with a goal off a pass from classmate Matt Abbott (Syracuse, N.Y.) with a little more than seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. With 5:41 left in the period, Nims returned the favor, dishing to Abbott, who fired the ball past Binghamton goalie Larry Kline to push SU's lead to 2-0. Goals by Leveille and senior midfielder Brendan Loftus (Watertown, N.Y.) extended the SU margin to four.

Junior attackman Greg Niewieroski (Watertown, N.Y.) and senior midfielder Steven Brooks (Libertyville, Ill.) scored the first two goals of the second quarter before the Bearcats's Andy Cook ended the Binghamton scoring drought. Syracuse quickly responded as Leveille pushed the Orange lead back to six, 7-1, with 2:13 left in the half on his second goal of the day.

Syracuse outscored the Bearcats, 5-0, in the third quarter and eventually built a 14-1 advantage on a goal by freshman Stephen Keogh (Toronto, Ontario) with 13:16 left to play.

Steven Carlson tallied the Bearcats' second goal with 11:45 to go, but two SU scores, one by Keogh and another by sophomore Chris Daniello (Cross River, N.Y.), put the finishing touches on the victory.

Junior midfielder Dan Hardy (Tully, N.Y.) contributed a season-high four points (2g, 2a) in the win. Both of Hardy's goals came in the decisive third quarter. Nims (2g, 1a), Niewieroski (1g, 2a) and Abbott (1g, 2a) all finished with three points. Abbott's three points and two assists tied his career highs in both categories and all of his points came in SU's initial six-goal surge.

Senior defensive midfielder Steve Babbles (Skaneateles, N.Y.) notched his first point of 2008 with an assist on Nims' second goal. Keogh's two goals equaled his career high.

The Orange defense smothered the Bearcats all afternoon, allowing a season-low 20 shots. It also owned a 43-25 advantage in ground balls. Freshman long-stick midfielder Joel White (Cortland, N.Y.) led the Orange with five ground balls and junior close defender Sid Smith (Ohsweken, Ontario) scooped up four.

SU goalkeepers John Galloway (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Al Cavalieri (Lathrup Village, Mich.) kept a tight cover on the net, allowing one goal each. Galloway played the first three quarters and made five saves. Cavalieri played the final period and stopped three Binghamton shots.

The victory extended SU's season-best winning streak to three games. The Orange will try for its fourth consecutive win Tuesday, March 25 when it visits Hobart. Face-off is at 7:00 p.m. at McCooey Field in Geneva.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  0  1  0  1 -  2
Syracuse............  4  3  5  4 - 16
 
Attendance: 5011
 
Binghamton SCORING:
GOALS: Carlson, Steven 1; Cook, Andy 1.
ASSISTS: Joy, Kevin 1.
 
Syracuse SCORING:
GOALS: LEVEILLE, Mike 4; HARDY, Dan 2; NIMS, Kenny 2; KEOGH, Stephen 2;
       ABBOTT, Matt 1; NIEWIEROSKI, Greg 1; LOFTUS; Brendan 1;
       BROOKS, Steven 1; AMIDON, Josh 1; DANIELLO, Chris 1.
ASSISTS: ABBOTT, Matt 2; HARDY, Dan 2; NIEWIEROSKI, Greg 2;
         BABBLES; Steve 1; LEVEILLE, Mike 1; MACDONALD, Mike 1;
         NIMS, Kenny 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  3  8  3  6 - 20
Syracuse............ 13 10  9 13 - 45
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  5  4 11  5 - 25
Syracuse............ 12  7 14 10 - 43
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  1-5   3-4   3-6   3-6  - 10-21
Syracuse............  4-5   1-4   3-6   3-6  - 11-21
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  4-6   2-3   4-6   6-8  - 16-23
Syracuse............  6-7   5-5   6-7   7-10 - 24-29
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  0-1   1-1   0-2   0-0  -  1-4
Syracuse............  0-0   1-1   0-0   1-1  -  2-2
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  3  3  3  6 - 15
Syracuse............  1  3  1  3 -  8
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Binghamton..........  6  6  9  6 - 27
Syracuse............  3  6  5  5 - 19
 
PENALTIES - Binghamton 2/2:00; Syracuse 4/3:30.

2008-03-22