The good outweighed the bad for Dominic Lamolinara.

The bad — and there was plenty of that — started 10 seconds in and spanned much of the first half as the Syracuse (14-3) defense looked out of sorts. The good saved the No. 1-seed Orange in the second half, iced a close game and earned his coach’s praise.

Lamolinara straightened up after a mediocre first half to save five of Bryant’s seven second-half shots on goal and end the Bulldogs’ (8-11) season in the first round of the NCAA tournament in the Carrier Dome.

“I thought Dom was terrific in the cage today,” SU head coach John Desko said. “Whenever they did a little crack in the defense, he usually made some good saves.”

BU took just 10 seconds to get on the board. Midfielder Kevin Massa won one of his 22 faceoffs and midfielder Colin Dunster scored on a shot from about 10 yards out. Less than thirty seconds later, after another Massa faceoff win, Dunster scored again on another shot from the same distance.

Bryant attack Peter McMahon scored on a long-range goal less than five and a half minutes in. The Bulldogs beat Lamolinara three times, all away from the cage.

“It’s kind of easy to score goals like that when Kevin Massa’s winning faceoffs every single time,” McMahon said. “Colin Dunster was playing great out of the box, but you have to look at what Kevin Massa did at the X.”

BU added another goal about a minute later, this time on a much better look, but then Lamolinara was great. He saved two of the three shots he saw in the second quarter, and played a standout second half.

He opened up the second half by stuffing Bulldogs attack Shane Morrell. He built himself into a rhythm with a solid third quarter, and by the end of the game was the calm director of the Syracuse defense that he so often is.

The Orange shut out Bryant in the fourth quarter as Lamolinara leapt behind the cage to intercept a pass from midfielder Alex Zomerfeld, casually scooped up ground balls from opportunities broken up in front of the net and even took an opportunity to try to clear a ball himself in the final minutes, sprinting down the left sideline before drawing a penalty and sealing victory for SU.

“The game was pretty much in hand at that point and you’re thinking more don’t get hurt,” Desko said. “ … Whenever the goalie’s out there it’s always more of a frenzy.”

Published on May 13, 2013 at 1:58 am

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2