Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Colgate closed its 2014 season here Saturday with a 19-6 loss to Syracuse before 3,215 at the Carrier Dome.
 
The best quarter for the Raiders was the fourth, when Colgate posted a 3-2 scoring edge. Otherwise, it was all Orange as the nation's third-ranked team built a 17-3 advantage and improved to 11-4 this year.
 
"They're a good team and I was very impressed," Raiders head coach Mike Murphy said. "They dominated us in the midfield and it forced us to do some things defensively that we don't really want to do. It loosened us up and then everybody else got going."
 
This was Colgate's fourth opponent this season ranked among the nation's top three in the country at the time of the game. Cornell was third back in mid-March, and Loyola was No. 1 on both occasions against the Raiders.
 
"You give all the credit to Syracuse, but ultimately I'm just proud of our seniors," Murphy said. "It was a great effort by all of our seniors; everybody got to play. You can't fault our effort."
 Thirty-three players saw action for Colgate, while 41 found the field for the Orange.
 
Boyle Back-to-Back
Eric Foote scored twice (pictured right scoring in the upper left corner) in the first half for the Raiders and Kevin Boyle added back-to-backers in the second half to highlight the Colgate offense. Foote finishes fourth on the team with 18 goals this season, and third with 27 points.
 
Boyle, meanwhile, scored two goals in a game for the first time in his collegiate career – and in his final Colgate game. Both came on man-up opportunities early in the fourth quarter.
 
"Throughout the year, man-ups are something we've kind of struggled with," Boyle said. "We thought teams maybe had us figured out so we tried to change it up a little bit this week.
 
"Any time you have a (long) pole out there, it makes the defense think twice. They've got to respect that he's a little bit of a shooter because for a goaltender, reading the ball coming out of there is pretty tough."
 
Colgate finished 3-of-5 on extra-man opportunities, while Syracuse was 2-of-4. Brendon McCann and Ryan Walsh had the assists for Boyle.
 
"It was nice," Boyle said. "Ryan was fortunate enough to see me on the back side and he threaded the needle on that second one. I just stuck it where they said on the scouting reports."
 
Triple Crown for WalshKevin Adams and then Walsh (pictured right) scored Colgate's two remaining goals, both unassisted. For Adams, it was No. 22 to tie McCann for second on the team. Walsh claimed the team's scoring triple crown after finishing on top with 31 goals and 45 points, and tying McCann for assist honors with 14.
 
Team statistics were as expected. Syracuse held a 49-27 edge in shots, and shots on goal were 31-14. The Orange led 39-18 in ground balls and captured faceoffs by a 19-9 margin. Colgate was 10-of-13 on clears to Syracuse's 19-of-22. The Raiders committed 14 turnovers to 11 for the home side.
 
Colgate's Brandon Burke and Jake Danehy split time in goal, with Burke going the first three quarters and making eight saves. Danehy added four saves out of six shots on goal. Danehy returns next year for his junior year, while Burke will be a sophomore.
 
Only eight teams nationally had a larger percentage of first-year players than Colgate's 34.8 percent (16 of 46), but Murphy knows there's work to be done.
 
"We're young in a lot of spots," Murphy said. "Brandon kept us in this game early, although it's not going to look that way on the scoreboard. I don't know how long I can continue to say we're just young. We need to get better in the midfield and in our decision-making."
 
"As I said to our team, they've got to go into the summertime thinking If this is where we want to be, if this (Syracuse) is the caliber of lacrosse we want to be playing, then we've got a lot of work to do."
 
Class of '14 Ties Win Mark
Colgate finishes the season with a 9-7 record for a one-win improvement over last year. The graduating senior class leaves behind a 42-23 won-lost mark, tying the 2006-09 Raiders for most wins in program history over a four-year period.
 
"It's definitely an emotional time finishing up the career right now," Boyle said. "I love this team more than any other team I've been on. It's a group of guys who showed up and went to work every day with me. The coaching was phenomenal and I've loved everything about it.
 
"To grow as a player throughout my four years here, it's nice to think that in the final year I had probably my best season statistically. We would like to have had a championship, but in terms of a senior year I can't tell you how proud I am to be a part of this team."