It took about half of last season for John Desko to find his starting goalkeeper. Through at least one game this season, the Syracuse head coach is still searching for an answer.

Senior Dominic Lamolinara started and played the first half while junior Bobby Wardwell came on for an equally average 24-minute stretch.

“In a big game, Dom, if he’s playing great, it’s tough to switch goalies,” Desko said. “It’s hard for me to say that right now, we’re still watching. But we feel like we have two guys who have stepped up and we feel very fortunate.”

Despite yielding three goals in the first quarter, Lamolinara stopped six shots in the No. 2 Orange’s (1-0) 19-7 victory over the Saints (0-1) at the Carrier Dome. Lamolinara remains the Orange’s go-to goalie, Desko said, but the team will still look to give the junior Wardwell continued opportunities off the bench.
Wardwell relieved Lamolinara after halftime, recording five saves in almost 24 minutes before redshirt freshman Evan Molloy made his collegiate debut between the pipes.

“As long as we keep improving, I think we’ll be alright,” Lamolinara said.

Before it became a blowout, Monday night’s season opener was a close game in the early goings.

Lamolinara didn’t stop either of the first two shots that Siena fired in his direction. The first one banged off the post, and the second one came from Richie Hurley, who curled around the cage and ripped a low shot past Lamolinara to put the Saints on the scoreboard four minutes in.

After another Siena shot missed the cage wide, Conor Prunty tried to dump off a pass into the middle in front of the crease, but no one was there. Lamolinara pounced on the loose ball, ran it out to the sideline and the Orange cleared.

“I thought he had a good half,” Desko said. “I thought he saw it well.”

As Syracuse’s attack stalled for more than five minutes after Siena’s first score, the Saints hung around. Siena’s Colin Clive hit a cutting Rob Hunter, who ripped a one-hopper from the right side that Lamolinara couldn’t stop to make it 3-2 at the 6:42 mark.

Later in the quarter, Hurley flicked a shot from 15 yards out that beat Lamolinara to his right to give the Saints their third fast-break score of the period.

“The downside was obviously those three transition goals they had in the first quarter, so that’s probably what we’ll work on this week,” Lamolinara said.

But in the next 15 minutes, Lamolinara stepped up. After brushing away a shot by Prunty, the goalie shifted to his right to make a stick save with the Orange down a man.

He dropped down to save two low shots and displayed sharp awareness in tracking an uncontested shot after just getting back into position in the crease. He ended the half on a high note before giving way to Wardwell.

“They just want whoever is doing better out there and whoever is on a roll to be out there,” midfielder Chris Daddio said. “They’re both great sports about it and I think they both played really well for the first game.”

Wardwell stepped into the line of fire for the third quarter and posted a shutout period, logging four saves before the horn sounded.

Unlike his teammate Lamolinara, however, Wardwell did not close out his outing as well. Despite hauling in an open Hurley shot from 10 yards out, he surrendered a pair of goals and was replaced by Molloy, who promptly saved the first shot he faced.

A year ago, Lamolinara solidified his role as the starter not long into the season, and appears to be on track to doing the same this season — but Wardwell will still have his chances.

“Bob’s really happy for me when I’m doing well, and I’m the same for him,” Lamolinara said. “As long as we keep winning, it doesn’t really matter who plays.”

Published on February 11, 2014 at 12:24 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb