PROVIDENCE, R.I. — With each pass, cut and dodge, Syracuse heaped increasing pressure on the Providence defense.

Chris Daddio made it constant.

The Orange’s (5-1, 2-0 Big East) faceoff specialist won 10-of-16 draws Tuesday night. He opened winning 4-of-6, fueling No. 4 SU’s furious 11-goal first half. His performance kept Syracuse seemingly always in possession, leaving Providence on the run and too quickly out of contention.

PC struggled enough to put shots on goal, and when it did, Dominic Lamolinara often stuffed them. But Daddio’s dominance at the faceoff X keyed an even more dominant performance for his teammates, ensuring Providence spent most of its time chasing the Orange attack.

“It’s a great feeling, especially with Daddio winning the faceoffs like he’s been,” Lamolinara said. “When the whole team’s clicking like that, I mean I’m the last line of defense, so if it gets to me, I know someone messed up, but it doesn’t happen often.”

Daddio pinched and popped the draws back for wings like Matt Harris and Drew Jenkins sweeping in. Those two combined for four ground balls, but Daddio took four of his own.

Daddio’s faceoff wins, frequently over Ryan Shaw, directly led to a pair of Syracuse goals. A faceoff win by Daddio back to Matt Pratt with 7:40 remaining in the second quarter ended with Derek DeJoe burying a left-handed sidearm shot to put SU up 8-2.

Two minutes later, Daddio again won a draw that came to Pratt. At the 4:30 mark, Luke Cometti was walking in the Orange’s 10th.

Like the rest of his first- and second-line teammates, Daddio gave way to less-experienced reserves Brendan Conroy, Cal Paduda and Elliott Burr. Combined, they went 4-for-10. The drop-off was noticeable, as Providence bagged seven goals in the second half, but Daddio and the offense to which he deferred had already done the damage.

Head coach John Desko stated Daddio’s effect simply. The midfielder was feeding an already destructive attack chances it hardly needed.

Said Desko: “It keeps the ball away from our defense and makes them play defense and gives us just those extra opportunities.”

Published on March 20, 2013 at 1:37 am

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_