All preseason, Syracuse praised its defense.

With every close defender — Nick Mellen, Tyson Bomberry and Marcus Cunningham — returning and a plethora of experienced options like Austin Fusco, Andrew Helmer, Brett Kennedy and Jared Fernandez to back them up in the defensive midfield, the unit stood poised to anchor an experienced team.

“I think we can lean on our defense,” Helmer said after SU’s first scrimmage in late January.

And in a 12-9 loss to Colgate (1-0) in the season opener, No. 20 Syracuse’s (0-1) defense was leaned on heavily. The unit was challenged for a majority of the game due to struggles at the faceoff and a rare inability to clear. SU’s defense kept the Orange in striking distance in the historic loss, despite facing 41 shots. The lone variable — new goalie Drake Porter — proved capable, making 14 saves in his first start. Syracuse relied on defense by necessity, not choice.

“(Colgate) had a lot of possession time, and it made our defense play a lot,” head coach John Desko said postgame. “… But it’s not unusual for a team to have that many goals.”

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The defense started slow. After Sam Cleveland backed down Bomberry, spun left and slotted home the Raiders’ second goal between Porter’s legs, Desko stormed up the sideline, angry with his team.

Switching assignments and putting star defender Mellen on Cleveland helped, but in the moment, the Raiders’ startling possession margin mattered more. Colgate edged Syracuse on faceoffs in the first half, 7-4, parlaying three-straight wins to start the game into a 3-0 lead. The Raiders entered halftime sporting a 6-3 lead over the Orange as Colgate held the ball for 4:08 of the first 6:23 of the game.

Under constant pressure, SU parried away 19 shots. Porter, in his first-ever collegiate start, displayed the same confidence teammates saw throughout the preseason, taking control and communicating clearly, something the defense has stressed.

Some saves were easy, when opponents flung blind shots off dodges into the webbing of his stick. Others, he flashed the stick skills that made him the starter. When it was still 2-0, Brian Minicus drove from behind the cage around Porter’s left, turned and rifled a shot between the keeper’s legs. Porter instantly recognized the attempt, dipping down before calmly cradling the save in his pocket.

“We were able to hold them, I thought, to a pretty low amount of goals just based off keeping our composure,” Porter said.

SU’s propensity to give the ball away once it got back stressed the defense even further. Colgate won the groundball battle, too, scooping six more. The Orange turned it over 18 times — which would’ve been the second most for an SU game in 2018  — and failed on a quarter of their clears. Desko lamented the clearance problems after the game, unsure of where the troubles stemmed from in the first place.

The Orange had only practiced a handful of ways to get the ball out, he said, but players tried running it out of the zone, ignoring calls for passes. The clearances improved later in the contest, but for a usually efficient clearing team, 15-of-20 is a glaring deficiency. All of this against what Desko called nothing “too special” from Colgate’s defense.

“It had to do a lot with the decisions that we made,” Desko said.

Still, after the mis hits and struggles, when Brendan Curry’s goal made it 10-9 Colgate with 7:09 to go, Syracuse had the opportunity it needed.

Instead, Colgate held the ball for more than half of the remaining time, scored twice and won the game. SU’s defense labored some more, trying to give the Orange another chance.

Published on February 12, 2019 at 10:47 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham