ANNAPOLIS, Md. — No. 7 Syracuse (9-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) cruised past Navy (5-7, 3-4 Patriot), 18-9, on Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

After a sluggish start, the Orange buried the Midshipmen in the second quarter, putting the game away before halftime and riding a dominant performance from their top attack to an easy victory.

Here are three takeaways from the blowout win.

Top-line shines

Syracuse’s trio of first-line attacks — Bradley Voigt, Stephen Rehfuss and Nate Solomon — combined for 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) against Navy.

Voigt followed his season-long form, scoring five goals, including a second-quarter hat trick. Rehfuss played the part of feeder, tallying five assists to go with two goals. Solomon added two goals and three assists of his own.

With less than a minute left until halftime, with the shot clock under 10, Rehfuss dodged fruitlessly, trying to get a look at Navy goalie Ryan Kern. When he couldn’t break free, Rehfuss muscled the ball out of his stick to Voigt, just a few yards away in front of the crease, blanketed.

Somehow, the pass found Voigt’s stick, and the senior bounced it into the back of the net with one second left on the shot clock.

Seconds

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Navy’s Ryan Wade sprinted from midfield into the offensive zone. He barreled past his defender, leaned left and flicked a shot past SU goalie Drake Porter to tie the game at four.

Syracuse, in response, closed out the half on a 6-1 run, taking command of the game into halftime.

During the run, the Orange won 5-of-8 faceoffs, scooping four ground balls and causing two turnovers. Nate Solomon took the ball out of Jacob Mandish’s long pole less than 10 seconds after a previous SU turnover. And in net, Drake Porter did his part, stopping five shots in the span.

The Orange carried their run into the second half, pushing it to 9-1 before Navy finally scored in the second frame. But SU had won the game when it went into the half up, 10-5.

ACC tournament troubles

Syracuse’s fate for the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference tournament was sealed before the Orange even took the field on Saturday.

With Notre Dame topping North Carolina, 12-10, earlier in South Bend, Indiana, SU is destined for a rematch with the Tar Heels on Thursday, April 25, as part of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 play-in game. The winner faces No. 1-seeded Virginia in a semifinal on the 27th.

Had the Tar Heels won, the Orange would’ve faced them in the No. 2 vs. No. 3 semifinal on April 27.

Instead, Syracuse heads to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for a chance to win its first ACC tournament game since 2016.

Published on April 20, 2019 at 7:15 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham