SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – On paper Albany is always the underdog against Syracuse. The Orange lead the all-time series against the Great Danes 15-1.
This year things were supposed to be different, UAlbany earned their highest pre-season ranking in program history and you could argue they were expected to beat the ‘Cuse.
UAlbany tried to live up to the hype and snap its five game losing streak to Syracuse.
Tied at one in the first, T.D. Ierlan won a faceoff; he went 17 of 22 from the circle, and takes it himself beat Syracuse goalie Dom Madonna.
In the 2nd quarter, highly touted freshmen Tehoka Nanticoke who came in with plenty of buzz took it strong to the net for his first collegiate goal finishing with five goals. His first goal put the Danes up 3-1.
Now we know all the hype was legit. Freshman phenom Tehoka Nanticoke lived up to the buzz, scoring five goals in his collegiate debut and the Great Danes dominated Syracuse 15-3 for just their second win ever over the Orange at the Carrier Dome.
“Our senior class, we were 0-4 coming into this game against Syracuse, so we were real excited for another opportunity and just to get a win here, start out 1-0, we’re really excited. We think this is a big step for our team and we’re hoping to keep getting momentum off of it,” said senior attackman, Connor Fields.
“You know our first game, we were so excited to obviously play in here and start the season in Syracuse against Syracuse against a storied program with a lot of pride. We’re certainly really happy with the way we played today,” said head coach, Scott Marr.
“UAlbany held Syracuse to just three goals for the first time since 1991, but head coach Scott Marr said this is just one game and there’s still a lot of work left to do.