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Syracuse

Nick Mariano cut off the screen, caught a pass from Nate Solomon 10 yards out on the left side of the cage and squared up.

With about four seconds left and the game tied at 9, the Syracuse midfielder was blocked off by University at Albany defender AJ Kluck. But Mariano took a step back, shifted his weight and cranked a left-handed shot across the crease and past UAlbany goalie JD Colarusso with 1.6 seconds left.

"I should've had that," Colarusso said after the game.

"Kid made a hell of a play," added UAlbany coach Scott Marr.

The 12th-ranked Great Danes (0-1) lost to the sixth-ranked Orange (2-0) 10-9 in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, dropping their season opener after relinquishing a five-goal lead during a 30-minute, 38-second scoring drought. UAlbany, which failed to find the back of the net between the 10:40 mark of the second quarter and the 10:02 mark of the fourth, allowed SU to crawl back from a slow start and seize momentum heading into a back-and-forth final quarter.

Attack Connor Fields paced UAlbany with four assists while midfielder Sean Eccles and attack Bennett Drake tallied two goals apiece. Attack Jakob Patterson also finished with multiple points, tallying a goal and an assist.

Eccles and Syracuse midfielder Sergio Salcido scored twice each down the stretch before a Justin Reh turnover set up Mariano for his late-game heroics. After Matt Lane missed early in the possession, SU head coach John Desko called timeout to draw up the play with 6.7 seconds left.

"Honestly, I wasn't listening in the huddle until the last like five seconds when (assistant) Coach (Kevin) Donahue and Coach Desko said I was just going to come off a pick," Mariano said. "I knew what we were doing already. We've been practicing that play all year.

"Once I got it in my stick, I just stepped back and tried to put everything into the shot."

The game winner spoiled an initial performance that left Marr impressed with his team. Colarusso made 13 saves in his first career start, stoning the Orange with his stick on multiple point-blank attempts and reacting quickly to kick away lower attempts.

His most impressive stop, perhaps, came late in the fourth quarter when he denied SU midfielder Peter Dearth on the doorstep to set up a game-tying score from Drake.

"Incredible," Drake said of Colarusso. "You see the saves. If he's not in the net, we're not in the game. He's making saves and giving us another chance to go down the field and try to answer."

The Great Danes' offense flashed its potential, racking up six goals on 19 shots in the first half. Albany took advantage of the Orange's slow switches and finished well around the net.

UA's defense finally slipped up during the lengthy scoreless streak as SU utilized quick passing to outscore Albany 4-0 in the third quarter.

Marr was adamant that UAlbany, which returns to action at Drexel next Saturday, won't let this loss linger.

Said Marr: "I'm very proud of my team and our effort today. Just the way that we played, the heart that we showed to be shut out in that third quarter offensively, we struggled a little bit, and came back in that fourth quarter to make a run at it."

Stephen Bailey is a freelance writer.

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