A disappointing season came to a close Sunday. No. 7 Notre Dame (7-4, 4-1 ACC) defeated Syracuse (4-10, 1-5 ACC) 18-11 on Senior Day in the Dome. The Orange dropped their last six games of the season; ten losses is worst-ever in program history.
Redshirt sophomore Harrison Thompson got his first start in goal since the Johns Hopkins game back on March 13th and his day did not get off to the best start. Notre Dame’s Reilly Gray notched the first goal four minutes into the game. Thompson did recover and sported an up and down performance in his 2nd start on the season. The New Jerseyan allowed 18 goals but turned in 10 saves on the day.
“I thought he earned it last game stepping in there, so we wanted to give him the start,” Head Coach Gary Gait said when asked about the decision to start Harrison Thompson. “We’re going to have them compete [for next year], do the best they can and we have a freshman coming in and we’re going to keep putting the best goalie out there.”
SU countered ND’s quick lead with Tucker Dordevic’s 46th goal on the season to tie it up 1-1, but it was all the Fighting Irish after that. Notre Dame went on a 7-1 run spanning the rest of the first and midway through the second quarter. The run by the Irish was not just due to the offense, netminder Liam Entenmann formed a brick wall in the crease. Entenmann saved six shots during the game's opening spurt and that would only be the start for his historic day. The Junior collected 22 saves, stopping 67% of the shots he faced.
Syracuse trimmed the deficit to end 10-5 at halftime. The Orange started the 3rd period fast cutting the lead to just 4 on Jacob Buttermore’s 8th goal of the season, but that would be as close as the Orange would get to the Fighting Irish. ND outscored SU by two goals in the final two quarters to close out the 18-11 victory.
One bright spot for the Orange was the history made by senior Brendan Curry. The Maryland native passed his father Todd Curry for seventh on the all-time goals list in program history. Curry found the back of the net twice on the day, elevating his career total to 94 in his five year career.
“It was probably one of the coolest moments of my life,” midfielder Brendan Curry said postgame. “He's the reason I am here, he’s the reason I wear this number, and he has taught me everything I know.”
Curry ends his senior season with 34 goals, the most in his career at SU.
On a younger note, redshirt freshman midfielder Jackson Birtwistle continued his late season explosion Saturday. Birtwistle had scored 10 goals in his last three games and added his second hat trick of the year in the season finale. The midfielder’s emergence towards the end of the season brings excitement for the 2023 Syracuse squad that brings in Inside Lacrosse’s top-ranked player Joey Spallina and two other five-star recruits.
However, the Orange will move forward without their best player. Tucker Dordevic entered the transfer portal Monday morning after multiple affirmations he would return to SU to exercise his extra year of eligibility. The fifth-year junior finished the season with 47 goals and 12 assists.
Syracuse mens lacrosse star Tucker Dordevic, who led the Orange with 47 goals, has entered the transfer portal pic.twitter.com/XESPpt5OGo
— Brent Axe (@BrentAxeMedia) May 2, 2022
Looking ahead to football season, WAER’s next broadcast is Syracuse football's season opener at home against Louisville on Saturday, Sept. 3. The ACC has not announced a time for the contest.