EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — John Galloway didn’t hide his extra motivation. This time, in this game, he had something extra to prove.

Flash back a year ago. The then-sophomore Galloway manned the net for Syracuse on the biggest of lacrosse stages. Giants Stadium. The Meadowlands. A record crowd for a lacrosse event.

Then, it all came crashing down. Seven saves to 12 goals allowed. Three goals allowed in the fourth quarter to put the game away completely in Princeton’s control. And a four-goal loss, one of SU’s two blemishes in 2009.

‘It’s a huge motivational factor,’ Galloway said of his performance last year. ‘I still have the article from last year after the game.’

Galloway came into Saturday night’s contest against No.4 Princeton with a chip on his shoulder. He wanted a performance to silence the doubters.

And on this night, he answered the call. In almost 50 minutes of action, Galloway stonewalled the Tigers’ offense, allowing just one goal and stopping 11 shots along the way, leading the No. 3 Orange to a 13-4 victory over No. 4 Princeton.

Galloway gave up his lone goal to the Tigers’ Mike Chanenchuk on a blistering shot in the bottom left corner of the goal. At that point, it was 3-2 Syracuse with 9:26 remaining in the first half.

From there, the Orange went on a 9-0 run that spanned parts of three quarters and over 31 minutes. JoJo Marasco, who scored two of his three goals on the day in that run, credited Galloway ‘100 percent’ for SU’s offensive success.

‘We don’t get those goals unless John stops (Princeton),’ Marasco said. ‘It’s a great feeling knowing he’s making all those saves and the defense is playing so well, because the ball is really on our end of the field and then we get to do what we do best.’

That was all the Tigers would get against Galloway until Al Cavalieri replaced him with 9:13 to play in the game. Granted, the SU offense possessed the ball for extravagant chunks of time. Galloway credited his offense with as much.

But when those shots were fired at his end, he stopped them. There was the point-blank attempt by Princeton attack Chris McBride. There was the near full-out split by Chanenchuk. And there was the save in which he went across his body to stop Jack McBride, who burned Galloway for a hat trick last year.

‘The ball was big and white,’ Galloway said. ‘It looked like a beach ball today. It was nice.’

Princeton noticed the difference as well. Last year, sophomore defenseman Chad Wiedmaier and senior midfield Scott MacKenzie saw a flustered SU goaltender struggling to find his identity. MacKenzie took advantage, putting up a goal and two assists in Princeton’s win.

Different year. Same goalie. Completely different story.

‘I think John played great,’ MacKenzie said. ‘He’s a good goalie. When you have no angle, he’s going to make those saves. I think when you play against a goalie like that you have to make that extra pass, make that one more and get an open shot instead of those low angle shots.’

MacKenzie looked like he had more to say. But it was then when Wiedmaier interjected. On the defensive end, he had practiced all week for the Orange’s offensive attack, knowing full well how Galloway jumpstarts it in transition.

But on Saturday, Wiedmaier and his teammates couldn’t stop the SU offense. And he knew part of it was because of the quick finds and long passes from Galloway to start the attack.

‘He obviously played great in the net, too,’ Wiedmaier said. ‘But we knew coming into the game that he’s a great outlet passer. He’s the one who sparks their offense every time. He caught us a couple of times. He’s just a good player. He had a really good day.’

On this night, was a similar setting. Arguably the biggest game of the year thus far. The bright lights shone on every player on the field, but Galloway felt them even more. The record crowd was back, too, and many of those eyes were on Galloway.

Last year, he deflected the spotlight. This year, smiling, he left a different stadium a different goalie. This year, he left wanting to come back.

Said Galloway: ‘Is the final four here this year? I wish.’

 

bplogiur@syr.edu 

Published on April 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm