PISCATAWAY, N.J. – For Chris Daniello, it was really quite simple. Play within the offense, and if his team needed a goal, get one.

Thirty minutes down the stretch Sunday, the senior captain showed it, as he was the only one on the field that found the back of the net. Daniello 2. Rutgers 0.

‘We had some good looks, and the goalie made some good saves,’ Daniello said. ‘I just took what they gave me, and I tried to create something.’

After a slow start, No. 2 Syracuse (10-1, 3-0 Big East) got on track to beat conference counterpart Rutgers (5-6, 1-2) at Yurcak Field, 11-5, in front of a crowd of 3,253. It wasn’t a pretty game in Piscataway as the two teams combined to commit 4 turnovers. But Daniello got the Syracuse offense started, and his teammates followed during the final 30 minutes to win their eighth straight game.

Daniello registered a career-high six points. He had four goals and two assists. When shots sailed high and wide, left and right for both teams, he seemed to score at ease.

‘I thought Chris played very well,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘He was a real threat. At times, he looked like he could do it whenever he wanted it. It was great he came alive, and he was certainly the reason we got going.’

Early on, both offenses were stagnant. Play went up and down the field due to the constant turnovers. Then Daniello went to work.   

He scored the game’s first goal at the 10:34 mark of the second quarter and followed it up with another score three minutes later. Daniello found himself with a short stick on him on the right side of the net. He went right at the helpless Rutgers defender and bounced in his second goal of the game.

With that, he extended the SU lead to 2-0, and that’s how it would stay until the half.

Daniello saw increased time at the midfield position due to the absence of freshman midfielder JoJo Marasco. Marasco sat out the second half against Cornell and did not make the trip to New Jersey with a lower leg injury. Daniello more than answered the call.

‘Bumping him to the midfield really made a big difference for us,’ Desko said. ‘He got us the goals in the first half and got us a few more in the second half.’

Just as he has done all season, Daniello led the Orange when it was in need of offense. The Big East leader in points per game (3.3) nearly doubled that total Sunday night against the Scarlet Knights.

On Tuesday night against Cornell, he scored the game-winning goal as time expired. Tonight, he got his team going in the first, and after some halftime adjustments, the rest of the Orange followed suit.

‘We changed it up at halftime and changed up our shots,’ Daniello said. ‘I wanted to get something going for us in the first half, and then the rest of the team kept it up.’

The Orange scored nine goals in the second half. Tim Desko and Cody Jamieson had two goals apiece. But Tim Desko was quick to point out just how important Daniello was.

‘Daniello played great,’ he said. ‘He scored a lot of goals and put it in the back of the net when no one else could.’  

After Daniello scored his last goal of the game with 7:48 to play in the fourth quarter, he trotted off the field as if nothing special had just happened. As he stood with his arm resting on his stick, his teammates swarmed around him and patted him on the helmet.

But for him, it was simple. He was just stepping up when he needed to. Doing whatever his team needed.

‘I don’t have a problem going up top and changing it up,’ Daniello said. ‘I scored when we needed to get going and liked my matchup from up top.’

restern@syr.edu