VILLANOVA, Pa. — A year ago, Syracuse stood in the same place it does now — at Villanova Stadium, one win away from a Big East tournament championship. Last year, Dominic Lamolinara stood on the sideline, watching Bobby Wardwell and the Orange reel off a miracle run to clinch an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

Now, though, he stands between the pipes as the last line of defense for a dominating SU defense. In two wins over Notre Dame, once at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic on Saturday and in the first round of the Big East tournament on Thursday, he’s been virtually unbeatable.

“Dom’s really seeing the ball and it’s been showing because, look, he’s given up (six) goals the last two games against a good offensive team from Notre Dame,” Syracuse midfielder JoJo Marasco said.

Lamolinara followed up a six-save, four-goals-against performance on Saturday with a 10-save outing in the Orange’s 9-3 win over the Fighting Irish on Thursday. His impressive two-game stretch is the first of its kind since John Galloway allowed six goals to Hobart and Binghamton over two games during his freshman season in 2008.

On Saturday, Lamolinara didn’t have to do much. He made just one save in the fourth quarter as SU shut out UND 6-0. Thursday was more of a challenge. His defense again kept the Irish at bay, but he snagged shots from long range and stuffed the opposition in close.

“When they did have some opportunities, Dom made some great saves today and as a result I think that’s why the score was the way it was,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said.

After Saturday’s game, Notre Dame accepted all blame for the loss. The Orange was barely mentioned in the postgame press conference.

Thursday brought some of the same — mental mistakes and unforced turnovers still plagued the Fighting Irish — but finally there was some credit where it was due. SU again smothered UND, and Lamolinara was again spectacular.

“We had plenty of opportunities, we just didn’t put them on cage or just didn’t shoot them well,” Notre Dame attack Sean Rogers said. “And their goalie played well, so it’s a little bit of both.”

Published on May 2, 2013 at 10:14 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2