Syracuse head coach John Desko called the offense ‘patient’ to start. But with 10 minutes gone and only one goal on the board, the Syracuse attack was itching to break out.

After receiving a pass 20 yards outside the net, senior midfielder Pat Perritt faked to his left side and bolted toward the cage. While burning his defender, Perritt rifled a shot into the net, beating Providence’s goalkeeper low and away.

‘Dan Hardy popped off the crease, and I kind of just tried to pretend like I was passing it to him so the long pole would leave the crease,’ Perritt said. ‘And I went to the cage and there was no one left there to slide.’

Perritt’s goal opened up a scoring barrage which saw the Orange net four goals in a period of 82 seconds to end the first period. The onslaught propelled Syracuse to a 22-3 victory over Providence at the Carrier Dome Sunday in font of 5,405 fans.

‘I think that we started to get on a little bit of a run there,’ Desko said. ‘We knew that if Providence had possessions they were going to be patient when they had the ball, so

it was good. It got us going.’

For Desko, feeling good about Sunday’s win is easy after the statistical overload the Orange accomplished on the offensive end. Syracuse (1-0) outshot the Friars (0-1) in every period, resulting in a 55-12 advantage while capitalizing on 5-of-6 extra man opportunities.

‘I thought the guys executed pretty well,’ Desko said. ‘And as the day went on, we got better.’

Although it was Perritt who ignited the bombardment of goals, it was attack Stephen Keogh that kept it alive. After netting the first goal of the game, Keogh followed up with three in a row after a two-goal spurt from attack Kenny Nims.

Five seconds left in the opening period, Keogh posted in front of Providence goalkeeper Robert Bryan and received an outside pass from Nims. Without hesitation, Keogh blasted the shot between the post, tallying his third goal in three minutes and fourth of the half.

Keogh went on to score a career-high five goals.

‘I just kept moving to the middle and they kept sliding into the crease,’ Keogh said. ‘And I thought if I kept getting open I could put it in the back of the net.’

After struggling offensively throughout the team’s opening scrimmages, Keogh’s breakout was a catalyst for the Orange offense, forcing Providence to alter its defensive strategy and open up in the middle, leading to an influx of points.

‘Steve has done a good job moving off the ball, reading the defenses. I thought he shot well today,’ Desko said. ‘He was very comfortable, and he’s just going to continue from here. I’m for him to finish like that. That’s what he’s out there for.’

As time ticked off the scoreboard, the sizeable advantage allowed the game to ease into a more comfortable, methodical period for the Orange with most units settling back – except the attack.

SU scored five goals in each of the final three periods of the game, a welcome sign for Desko, who saw some of his substitute players come off the bench to help the offense.

‘On top of it all, we got a lot of people in the game,’ Desko said. ‘We started to substitute into the third quarter, and a lot of people had a chance to play.’

Goals from Chris Daniello, Greg Niewieroski, Scott Kahoe, Jeff Gilbert, Josh Amidon and Nate Tucker totaled to give the Orange a 10-goal boost off the bench in the waning minutes of the third and fourth periods.

Sitting at the podium following the blowout win, Desko sounded comfortable with his team’s status. Focusing on the positives, the coach was enthusiastic after starting the season just like the last, a 21-6 victory over Villanova last February.

‘I think we got the possessions that we wanted early and took some good shots, and then kind of broke things open as we got into the end of the first and second quarter,’ Desko said. ‘I felt good about what we were doing there.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on February 15, 2009 at 12:00 pm