Syracuse in the Postseason

The Syracuse Lacrosse is back in the postseason and is facing Canisius in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game is on ESPNU right now.

8:02PM: Brendan Loftus has given the Orange a 3-0 lead early on, as the Orange is dominating the faceoff circle. The MAAC champion is in serious jeopardy of getting blown out of this right now.

8:05PM: (I must indicate, I'm watching the game on TiVo, so there is a little tape delay at the moment - I should be caught up soon) But I don't think the same can be said for the Golden Griffs. Greg Niewieroski just scored for the Orange to make it 4-0. The Orange were a man-down but killed off the power play and added a goal.

8:09PM: Penalty flags against the Orange again. But the last time the Griffs had the man advantage, Syracuse scored. John DeRosa the guilty party, a 30-second penalty.

8:10PM: Are you kidding me? I know I'm not a lax expert, but I really don't remember too many short-handed goals in all the games I've ever watched. Now the Orange has two in the first nine minutes tonight. Josh Amidon got that goal, and this game ought to be over by the time Desperate Housewives comes on. My wife will be happy.

8:12PM: The Orange has seven shots. They now have six goals. Dan Hardy collects this goal for the Orange. It's 6-0 and growing. A year away from the NCAA tournament and the Orange has returned fired up.

8:15PM: The winner of this game faces Notre Dame next weekned in Cornell. I'm pretty confident saying the Orange will have the easier commute.

8:17PM: We are nearing the end of quarter one. The Syracuse defense has appeared impenetrable right now for the third-ranked Orange. These first round games aren't always blowouts. UMBC gave #2 Virginia all it could handle in the game before this. UVA scored with about six minutes left to win 10-9. The Retrievers had some shots late but the Cavs held on.

8:20PM: The second quarter is six seconds underway and the Orange lead has grown to 7-0. Mike Leveille scores his second of the night, and 40th of the year. How many times will be happy if the football team has 7 points six seconds into the second quarter this year?

8:21PM: Syracuse is going to the penalty box again. So expect the Orange to score pretty soon. Canisius has had two man-up opportunities in the first quarter, and the Orange scored twice. This is a one-minute penalty.

8:23PM: Ok, if the ESPNU commentators have it right, and have you ever know Rob Simmelkjear not to be right? Then the second Orange goal that I was calling a shorthanded goal, occured after the penalty had expired so the goal was at even strength.

8:25PM: A Griffin is half-lion and half-eagle in case you were wondering? It has gotten to that point in the ESPNU broadcast.

8:26PM: Steven Brooks, #44, just scored on a nice shot from the outside to make it 8-0. To make matters worse for the Griffs, there is a one-minute penalty upcoming for the Orange.

8:28PM: The North Bracket will play next Sunday afternoon at Ithaca. So it looks like it will be Syracuse vs. Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon.

8:32PM: So much for the shutout. Adam Jones has broken through for the Griffs. The freshman scored his 38th goal of the season and the Griffs are within 8-1.

8:35PM: Great goal from Pat Perritt for the Orange. He went the length of the field and fired one in from a tough angle to make it 9-1.

8:37PM: Michael Blocho has scored quickly for Canisius and the Griffs have settled into this a little bit more and its now 9-2.

8:39PM: Canisius won in Emmitsburg this year. Back on March 15th, when the Mount campus was celebrating the hoops championship, the Griffs won the MAAC opener 11-7.

8:41PM: We're just about at halftime and there seems little doubt what the outcome is going to be. Syracuse is clearly in control and seems to be headed to the Quarterfinals. So my night of live blogging is complete. We're comfortable calling it a good SU win on graduation day.

8:43PM: Blocho just scored his second goal with 19.0 seconds left in the half. That makes it 9-3.