No. 8 seed Syracuse (11-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) enters the NCAA tournament having won five straight games by an average of 7.6 goals. Its defense hasn’t allowed more than 10 goals in a game since April 2. Next up is Albany (12-3, 6-0 America East) in the Carrier Dome at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Great Danes just finished their fourth straight undefeated conference regular season in a row before losing to Hartford in overtime of the America East tournament semifinals.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Sunday night’s game.

All-time series: Syracuse leads 13-1

Last time they played: It was Syracuse’s second game of the season and Albany’s first. The then-No. 5 Orange topped the then-No. 12 Great Danes, 16-7 in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse replaced starting attack Nick Piroli, who was out due to injury, by subbing Matt Lane into the midfield and moving Tim Barber up to Piroli’s spot, but its offense didn’t skip a beat.  SU put up 59 shots, its most in a game since a 72-shot performance against Hobart in 1997. Nine different players scored for Syracuse and head coach John Desko was able to give his backups significant playing time in the second half.

Ben Williams was the catalyst of the offense, winning 17-of-24 faceoffs and the first 10 in a row to start the game, which helped the Orange jump out to an early lead. SU freshman defender Nick Mellen shut down Albany attack Connor Fields, holding him to no goals for the first time in his career. It was Albany’s first game of the post-Lyle Thompson era.

The Albany report: After the opening game loss to Syracuse, Albany won 12 of its 13 remaining regular season games and finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in the country. However, the Great Danes fell to Hartford in overtime in the America East tournament semifinals, knocking them down to being unseeded in the NCAA tournament (the top eight teams of the 16-team field are seeded).

In a year without any Thompsons, Fields and Seth Oakes have picked up the scoring slack. Fields is the point man, leading the team with 71 points, which is good for a fourth-best nationwide 4.7 per game. Oakes’ 43 goals beats out Fields by just one. Oakes and Fields have the eighth- and 10th-most goals per game, respectively, in the country. Albany’s offense as a whole shoots 34.7 percent, which sits at sixth in the nation.

On the defensive end, Blaze Riorden is one of the best goalies in the country. His 57.2 save percentage is seventh best and his 12.7 saves per game is third best.

But with lackluster faceoff and man-down units, Albany is susceptible to two of Syracuse’s strengths.

How Albany beats Syracuse: The Great Danes have one of the best offenses and one of the best defenses in the country. What makes them go — and is the difference between winning and losing — is the three-headed monster of Fields, Oakes and Riorden. The Great Danes need Fields and Oakes to continue to produce. The two games that Albany was held under 10 goals this season it lost.

Riorden has consistently come up big for Albany, including the three of its last four games that have gone to overtime. The Great Danes win much fewer than half of their faceoffs, so they rely on Riorden to make stops and transition into offense. In Albany’s first-round win over Cornell last year, he even ran the length of the field to score a goal.

Those three players are what make Albany tick. They’re the only chance the Great Danes have at knocking off one of the hottest teams in the country.

Numbers to know:

1 – Albany has beaten Syracuse just once — Feb. 17, 2013

8.6 – The Great Danes offense assists on 8.6 goals per game, which ranks third in the country.

31 – Seth Oakes has scored a goal in all 31 games of his career.

Player to watch: Blaze Riorden

The only time Albany has even beaten Syracuse was the first game of Riorden’s career. He started in goal and made 13 saves, three of which came in overtime, as the Great Danes topped the Orange, 16-15.

Riorden’s play defines the Albany defense. He has the ability to change the course of a game with several next-to-impossible saves or even a fast break on the other end. Opposing players and coaches describe Riorden as fearless in net. If he can stifle SU’s offense enough, Riorden could end up being Albany’s MVP.

Published on May 13, 2016 at 12:47 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus