The Syracuse Orange (3-0) will have its first road game of the young season on Friday when they face the Virginia Cavaliers (2-2). The Orange is coming off a hard-fought win against Army, while the Virginia won their last game against Penn by a score of 15-10.
Who's Hot- Derek DeJoe
The senior only had two shots against Army, but he made them count as he stuck both of them for his second straight multi-goal game; he had a hat-trick against Albany the week prior. The middy has a heavy shot that has been clocked at 111 MPH. If he can continue to get his rocket of a shot off, he should be able to add to his six goal total.
Who's Not- Getting Away from Dylan Donahue
The senior was able to keep his point-streak alive, but the team got away from him in the second-half. Donahue is by far the Orange's best player, and when he has the ball it frees up the field for everyone else. Expect Donahue to get involved early and often against Virginia.
Can Virginia's Balance Beat the Orange
While the Cavaliers are not the powerhouse they were a couple of years ago, they still have a team that can compete with a lot of teams in the country. They don't have an alpha-dog scorer like the Orange has with Donahue. They have a lot of scoring depth, however, that gets the job done; their two leading scorers—senior James Pannell and junior Zed Williams—both have 10 points. After them, Virginia has five other players with five points or more.
SU vs. Virginia @ 5:30 PM Countdown to face-off @ 5 on WAER
Key Matchup- The Goalies
Warren Hill is coming off a career-high 10 save performance against Army and has played well in his three starts this year. Cavaliers' goalie Matt Barrett hasn't had a great start to this year, but he has shown in the past that he is capable of having a huge game; last year he racked up 20 saves in the Carrier Dome against the Orange. Whichever goalie can make the key saves will propel his team to a victory.