CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ben Williams couldn’t see the scoreboard from the sideline for the entire game, but he used the celebration context clues to figure out when Syracuse finally, fully erased its five-goal deficit to tie the game with about a minute to go.  

Then, after winning the only faceoff in overtime on a violation, he spilled onto the field with the rest of his teammates after redshirt senior midfielder Sergio Salcido’s game-winner. Williams had given SU the only offensive possession in OT before, on March 18 at Johns Hopkins which set up a Salcido game-winning assist. On Saturday, Syracuse’s senior faceoff specialist won nine of the game’s final 13 chances at the X and provided the top-ranked Orange (10-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) the possession time it needed to beat No. 17 North Carolina (6-6, 1-2), 12-11, in overtime at Fetzer Field.

“He’s been the reason we’ve come up with these wins,” sophomore defender Tyson Bomberry said.

Williams has now won 51 of his last 78 faceoffs, a 65 percent mark, turning his season once bogged down by a nagging injury into his most productive stretch since last year. Williams’ return to the Tewaaraton Award nominee of years past has helped lift Syracuse to its No. 1 ranking and ride its eight-game winning streak.

“I feel great,” Williams said. “The warm weather gave me a tan, healed me up a little bit.”

North Carolina faceoff specialist Stephen Kelly won six of seven during one stretch in the middle of the game, setting up the first of UNC’s two, four-goal runs. At the start of the second quarter, Williams and Kelly battled for 21 seconds. Three times, the pair gritted out for 10 seconds or more. The pair traded wins at the X equally into the third quarter.

Williams knew Kelly would try to use his body, the quickness and athleticism, to get a jump on him. But Williams hoped to win on strength, so he slammed the ball into the ground with his stick-head backing on every faceoff to slow the pace. He countered speed with power.

“(Kelly) wasn’t going to be able to keep up with us all game if we did that,” Williams said. “Then again, our wings started making some huge plays and started beating them up a little bit, so it was good.”

When Williams couldn’t pick up the ball himself, he pushed it out into space for the wings. Luke Schwasnick picked up two goal ground balls, Austin Fusco nabbed three and Cal Paduda added one. Williams scooped up seven on the ground and led the Orange, which had 35 grounders to UNC’s 23.

After winning a season-best 76 percent of faceoffs against Cornell on Tuesday, Williams appeared to have fully recovered from the injury that sidelined him from SU’s only loss of the year on Feb. 25 against Army.

“There’s not anything lingering in his injury,” SU head coach John Desko said. “It’s been more of a form issue. … He had good form today and won some big ones for us.”

In the five games before SU’s win over Hobart on April 5, Williams had won more than half of his chances only once. Against Duke on March 25, he went a career-low 4-of-18 and was replaced by freshman Danny Varello in the fourth quarter. Since, Williams has posted a 17-of-28 outing against the Statesmen, a season-high 19-of-25 against Cornell.

Saturday, he took 15-of-25 chances from the Tar Heels.

With about 11 minutes to go and SU still down four, Williams dueled Kelly for several seconds. In a scramble several yards away from the X, Williams laid out to spray the ball to the nearby wing. Almost two minutes later, senior attack Nick Mariano finished the long possession with his second goal to cut North Carolina’s lead to three. It sparked a run of five unanswered goals.

As his team pushed its run further, Williams said he felt no extra pressure to keep winning faceoffs, to keep his team’s chances alive. Partly because he couldn’t see the scoreboard, he said, but also because he never gets fazed by the situation outside the X.

“You’re just trying to go out and win every one,” Williams said. “You’ve got to keep at it, and eventually you’ll come out on top.”

Published on April 15, 2017 at 9:39 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR