SYRACUSE, N.Y.—John Herlihy scored his team-high fourth goal of the game with 36.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter to get Hobart College within one of 14th-ranked Syracuse University, but the Orange won the ensuing faceoff and scored an insurance goal on an empty Statesmen net with 11.7 seconds left to ice an 18-16 win in the annual Kraus-Simmons Trophy game.
 
Senior attackmen Ryan Archer and Tommy Mott led the Hobart offense with five points apiece. Archer scored a goal and handed out a game-high four assists while Mott scored three times and posted two helpers. Senior attackman Derrek Madonna contributed a hat trick. Hobart finished the game 5-of-6 with the extra man. It's the most man-up goals in a game by the Statesmen since scoring five against St. John's in 2008.
 
Syracuse's offense revolved around Tucker Dordevic and Brendan Curry. Dordevic had seven points on five goals and two assists, while Curry scored five times and added an assist. Jakob Phaup won 25-of-38 faceoffs and grabbed a game-high 13 ground balls.
 
Both teams used two goalies. Harrison Thompson got the start for Syracuse making eight saves against 20 shots on goal before yielding to Bobby Gavin late in the third quarter who saved three of the seven shots he faced down the stretch. Hobart's Kevin Holtby made seven saves against 22 shots in just over 41 minutes of work. Loukas Sotiropoulos made two saves on five shots in relief.
 
Hobart got off to a promising start. William Delano fired a perfect diagonal pass from the top left of the box to Bradley Simas on the right side of the crease. He put a shot fake on the goal and then scored with a low shot to give the Statesmen the early lead. Less than a minute later, Herlihy had the ball about 10 yards away from the goal and stumbled. As he fell to the turf, he managed to get off a shot that beat goalie Thompson for a 2-0 lead.
 
SU responded with back-to-back goals to tie the game by the first media timeout. After a third faceoff violation, the Orange were assessed a 30-second penalty and Madonna cashed in, set up by Mott. Syracuse countered with four straight goals spanning the first and second quarters to take a 6-3 lead. Hobart came roaring back with three goals in just over two minutes. Herlihy, this time keeping his feet under him as his defender fell, started the run. Just 11 seconds later, Mott picked off an SU pass that set him up for a one-on-one with Thompson to make it 6-5. Archer finished the run with an extra-man goal, extending his games with a point streak to 24.
 
Syracuse ended the half on a 4-1 run, including two goals from Dordevic, to carry a 10-7 lead into the locker room. Dordevic had four goals and an assist in the first half.
 
Hobart raced out of the break, scoring the four of the first six goals to get within one, 12-11, at the media timeout. Ward scored a man-up goal to start the second half scoring, but Dordevic countered less than a minute later. Brian Mitrow fired a dime to Mott on the crease who dunked home his ninth goal of the season. Thirty seconds later, Mitrow scored off a feed from Dattellas, making it an 11-10 game. Owen Seebold gave SU a two-goal cushion, but Hobart answered with a goal in transition. Archer caught the ball below the goal line to the right of the cage and fired a high pass to Bobby Baltzer, who made an impressive leaping grab and then unleashed an off-balance shot for his first goal of the season.
 
Syracuse (2-3) pushed its lead back to three, ending the quarter on a 3-1 run.
 
In the fourth quarter, Hobart kept chipping away at the Orange's advantage, getting goals from Herlihy, Madonna, Mott, and Herlihy again to close the gap to 17-16. SU won the ensuing faceoff and called a timeout. On the restart, Curry flung a shot at Hobart's open net between a pair of defenseman to seal the victory.
 
It's the eight straight win for Syracuse in the Kraus-Simmons Trophy game, but the two goal difference is the closest the Statesmen have come to beating the Orange since topping SU 13-12 in 2013.
 
Hobart (2-2) will be back in action on Saturday, March 19. The Statesmen will open Northeast Conference play at Sacred Heart at 1 p.m.