AMHERST, Mass. – Midway through Massachusetts’ upset of Syracuse, Doc Schneider decided to spot his opponent a goal.

OK, it was more of an accident. The Minutemen goalie snagged an easy save. Schneider prepared to clear it, but the ball fell out of his cradle into his own cage.

Schneider could afford to give away a couple goals to his opponent. Since Schneider’s skill in goal this weekend indicated Syracuse would have a difficult time getting much else past the Massachusetts’ goaltender.

Schneider stymied the Orange offense, making 19 saves in UMass’ 9-7 victory over SU Saturday.

A trend in the majority of Syracuse’s losses this year has been a dominating opposing goalie. It started in Syracuse’s first loss of the season, when Army’s Adam Fullerton shocked the SU attack. Now the most disappointing loss of this season for SU came at the hands of an impenetrable Schneider.

‘It’s pretty frustrating,’ attackman Mike Leveille said. ‘We thought we were getting some good chances. The goalie made some saves standing on his head throughout the entire game. It’s something you have to overcome.’

Standing on his head was literal for Schneider. Unlike previous goalies Syracuse had faced, Schneider seemed less concerned with finesse. His strategy revolved around a willingness to sacrifice his body.

Many of Schneider’s best saves ended with him spread out on the ground. One highlight was a diving block of a try by SU sophomore Greg Niewieroski.

‘I feel the lower I get or the more my whole body is behind it, the more chance I’ll have a save in it,’ Schneider said.

It looked like Syracuse would continue its momentum from its previous three-game winning streak. Within the first 30 seconds, Dan Hardy powered through the Minutemen defense and put in the first goal of the game.

Schneider stepped up after that play. He finished the first quarter with six consecutive saves, allowing UMass to take a 3-1 lead. He permitted only one goal in the following quarter. And as the half entered its final minute Schneider made a save, which stated nothing would come easy for Syracuse.

A slashing penalty by the Minutemen gave SU a one-minute man-up situation.

The Orange was handed an opportunity to cut UMass’ lead to one. In Syracuse’s upset over then-No. 3 Albany last week, SU stole the momentum away from the Great Danes with two goals in the final 12 seconds of the first half.

In the final minute, Syracuse moved the ball around looking for an open man. UMass forced an outside shot, but SU received another chance at taking advantage of the power play. Leveille flung a shot at Schneider’s legs. Like Schneider did all game, the goalie sprawled himself on the ground and prevented the goal.

‘Emotionally the team gets picked up every time he makes a save,’ UMass head coach Greg Cannella said. ‘Fortunately he has the type of character to play big in a game like today where there is a lot on the line for both teams.’

While Schneider’s saves enthused his Minutemen teammates, it simultaneously tormented the Syracuse squad.

Syracuse head coach John Desko noted the Orange started out the game shooting low, which is the goalie’s strength. At halftime the team tried to position its shots higher, but Schneider, who seemed to be brimming with confidence after the first half, adjusted.

Schneider praised his defense for executing a strategy that took much of the steam out of the Syracuse attack.

‘Once those guys get inside – that’s it,’ Schneider said. ‘So the best chance we had was to play inside out on them.’

The Orange played another strong fourth quarter. It started winning faceoffs and groundballs and SU stopped turning the ball over. But Syracuse would never move closer than 7-6. Schneider stapled down the victory with five clutch fourth quarter saves.

On Syracuse’s final possession, the UMass defense once again forced a Syracuse attackman outside. Once again Schneider made the save. He deflected a Steven Brooks shot wide.

Three minutes later, Schneider’s Minutemen teammates mobbed the goaltender. Syracuse was left facing a lost season.

‘We wanted to keep shooting,’ Leveille said. ‘We tried to make some adjustments. We tried to figure out where he was hot and get by him … but we didn’t have enough.’

Published on April 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm