Siena attack Keenan Cook fired a shot toward the bottom right corner of the net from 10 yards away. Syracuse goalie Warren Hill split to the ground, stretching his left leg to the post and positioning his stick in front of the ball to make the stop. The rebound popped out a few feet in front of Hill, but he got up and covered the ball.

His first save of the season in his first career start for the Orange came with a little more than two minutes left in the first quarter, but not a moment too soon.

“I had a little bit of jitters there,” Hill said,” but as soon as the game went down and I got that first save, it was all just smooth riding from there. I felt pretty comfortable.”

Hill excelled in goal during the No. 5 Orange’s (1-0) 18-5 win over Siena (0-1) on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. The senior goalie stopped five shots and conceded just two goals through his three quarters of play, a career-high 45 minutes. His replacement, Evan Molloy, let up three goals in the fourth quarter, but Hill picked up his first-ever win at SU.

“He’s the type of guy where if you make a mistake you’re comfortable knowing he’s there behind you to cover for you,” freshman defender Nick Mellen said. “So it’s always nice to see that.”

When Siena midfielder Neil Gollogy charged through the SU defense, past midfielder Scott Firman for an open shot, Hill jabbed his stick to the right, but the ball bounced wide. It was his first action of the game, seven minutes in, but his first save would have to wait.

He was spending the majority of his time twirling his stick between his hands and bouncing around between the pipes.

It finally came with 2:12 to go in the first, but a minute later Hill was put to the test again. Siena midfielder Tim Cousin spun to the right and shot in the near-side top left corner, but Hill met the attempt with the pocket of his stick.

“Their goalie is excellent,” Siena head coach John Svec said. “… Probably three of our first eight shots were really good shots, good looks, and he makes good saves.”

With three saves to his name and a minute left in the second quarter, Hill nearly went into halftime without a blemish. With 52 seconds to go, though, Siena’s Brian Prunty fired an undefended shot from 10 yards away that sailed over a ducking Tom Grimm and into the top corner of the net before Hill could put his stick in the way.

Halftime marked the first time in his two-year Syracuse career that the Onondaga Community College transfer played a full half. Previously, he had never played more than 28 minutes — a six save, seven goals allowed performance in a loss to North Carolina last April.

“Definitely had to stay focused,” Hill said about playing more minutes, “but I was definitely more excited to stay in there and I’m glad to have the opportunity.”

His play preserved the blowout and kept Siena’s team from gaining any sort of confidence on offense, Svec said.

Hill’s shining moment of the third quarter came with under two minutes to go when a shot went wide of the net and he dove to the ground. Hill popped back up and covered the net as the ball bounced around again on an attempted shot. Out of the scrum, Hill was credited with a save.

The second, and final, goal Hill allowed came with six seconds left in the third quarter on a shot in close that slid between his legs.

As the Saints celebrated, Hill turned to watch the replay on the big screen behind him. He would watch the rest of the game, too, but from the sideline, as Molloy replaced him to start the fourth quarter.

Forty-five minutes in the books. His work done.

“There were three or four one-on-one situations where they could’ve scored,” SU head coach John Desko said, “and Warren came up big for us.”

Published on February 13, 2016 at 5:35 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus