SYRACUSE, N.Y.—The No. 8 Syracuse University lacrosse team defeated Hobart College 11-4 in the Carrier Dome this evening. The Orange picked up its third straight win and claimed the Kraus-Simmons Trophy for the fifth straight year.
 
The Statesmen (4-6) had a slim 34-33 edge in shots, but the Orange (6-3) had a 19-13 advantage in shots on goal. The SU defense pressured Hobart into 16 turnovers, five more than the Orange committed. The Statesmen won 10-of-18 faceoffs, but Syracuse had a 27-21 advantage on ground balls.
 
Sophomore Stephen Rehfuss and junior Nate Solomon powered the Orange offense. Rehfuss had a game-high five points on three goals and two assists, while Solomon added two goals and two assists. Sophomore defenseman Nick Mellen picked up a game-high four ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers. Senior goalie Dom Madonna earned the win with nine saves in 57 minutes of work.
 
For Hobart, junior faceoff specialist Matthew Pedicine won 10-of-18 with a pair of ground balls. Sophomore defenseman Sam Mueller and junior defensive midfielder Stanny Gilbertson each picked up three ground balls. In goal, sophomore Sam Lucchesi made eight stops. Five different Statesmen finished with one point.
 
Hobart seized the early lead when junior Bryan Hancock scored on a low screamer less than two minutes into the game. Justin Scott was credited with the assist.
 
SU responded with three straight goals. Solomon started the run with a one-handed underhand shot while his other arm was locked up with a Hobart defender. Sophomore Jamie Trimboli put Syracuse in front with under six minutes to go and first-year David Lipka added to the lead about three minutes later. At the end of the quarter, Hobart had 25 seconds of a two-man advantage, but was unable to cash in on the opportunity.
 
Syracuse tacked on four more goals in the second quarter, stretching its lead to 7-1 by halftime. Solomon added to his total with a goal and an assist in the stanza. Hobart's best scoring chance of the quarter belonged to first-year Ty Yanko, who turned a give-n-go into a scoring chance right on the edge of the crease, but Madonna made a nice save on the low shot.
 
The Orange extended its run to eight straight goals when Rehfuss netted the first tally of the second half, but junior Kyle Grimaldi halted the streak with his fifth goal of the season just under five minutes into the half. The Statesmen made it two in a row when Scott ran from behind the cage to create a shot in front. His offering was saved, but Yanko was there to grab the ground ball and fire it home to make it an 8-3 game with 3:04 to go in the third. Less than a minute later, first-year Ryan Archer used a lightning quick spin move to shake his defender and then unleashed a laser into the top right corner of the cage to make it 8-4. The goal extended the Syracuse native's points streak to 10 games.
 
SU salted the game away with three goals in a span of four minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter. Stephen Rehfuss netted back-to-back goals about a minute apart to start the flurry followed by a goal by Trimboli.
 
Hobart will return home to take on No. 19 Robert Morris University (6-3) on Saturday, April 7. Faceoff at Boswell Field is scheduled for noon.