The resurgence of Chris Daddio continues.

After three-plus years’ worth of struggling at the faceoff X, Daddio’s string of success is still very much alive, and he’s finding more ways to improve. In No. 4 Syracuse’s (11-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) blowout 19-6 win over Colgate (9-7, 4-4 Patriot) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Daddio won 15-of-21 at the X to supply the Orange’s explosive attack with plenty of possessions to bury the Raiders early on.

Mike Iacono and freshman Joe DeMarco ultimately replaced Daddio at the X in the third quarter, but not for the same reasons they took his place earlier in the year.

“Chris did a great job on faceoffs today, not only getting the possessions but the decisions he made afterwards,” SU head coach John Desko said. “He’s getting really comfortable out there.”

The Syracuse senior lined up against Colgate’s Alex Kinnealey, who entered Saturday’s contest with a 62.5 faceoff percentage – eighth best in the country.

Daddio lost just two of the eight faceoffs in the first quarter — one by violation, and on the other one, the Raiders handed the ball right back to Syracuse by turning it over. Daddio’s clamps were clean, his exits smooth and he even utilized a jam move to outsmart Kinnealey.

“I’ve been able to work on the little things to piece together something here,” Daddio said.

With the ball at SU’s disposal so often, the Orange built a 6-1 lead after the first quarter.

The Raiders sent Peter Marchetto to try to throw off Daddio at the X to start the second quarter, but the SU senior beat the freshman handily with a clamp and started a fast break on which the Orange attack capitalized.

It was a much different scene than the ACC tournament a week ago, in which Daddio’s uncertainty of what to do with the ball after winning a faceoff was exposed and he struggled to secure groundballs on the run.

But after Daddio beat Marchetto and created instant offense for SU on Saturday, Kinnealey returned for the ensuing draw, only to be defeated by Daddio once more.

The SU senior would take his last faceoff at the 7:56 mark of the third quarter with the Orange ahead 14-3, and then gave way to Iacono and DeMarco, who combined to win 4-of-7 the rest of the game.

“I’ve been able to make better decisions coming out with the ball,” Daddio said. “Not just winning the clamp, because you’re not going to win it until you get the attackmen or the offense the ball. I’ve been getting more comfortable with that.”

Published on May 3, 2014 at 9:28 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb