Syracuse opened year three of the Gary Gait era with a rout of Vermont on Saturday afternoon, 20-7. Here are three takeaways from a a game in which the Orange commanded the game from the first faceoff to the final buzzer.

Syracuse led 3-2 after the first quarter, but the offense asserted itself after a shady opening period.

The Orange went on a 9-3 run to take a 12-5 lead heading into halftime and was in complete control after that.

The Orange had 50 shots to Vermont’s 30, and controlled the faceoffs 21-10. Most impressive was the movement in the Syracuse offense, with 13 total assists on 20 goals.

Fifth-year senior Christian Mule had three goals alongside sophomore Joey Spallina who finished with seven points (three goals and four assists).

“My supporting guys were awesome today," Spallina said. "I took a deep breath and let the game come to me and it showed. I’m proud of our whole offensive unit and the high-quality opportunities we had.”

The Orange used forced turnovers to their advantage for most of the game but did not play the cleanest themselves. Syracuse forced 17 turnovers, but had 14 turnovers of their own.

Penalties haunted both sides as well with a total of 13 flags thrown. The teams were chippy all game, including some taunting heading into the locker room at half.

As expected first-game mistakes occurred, but Syracuse made the most of capitalizing off Vermont's miscues. The Orange offense thrived in motion after a Vermont turnover, while the defense stopped any momentum the Catamounts were gaining following a Syracuse mishap.

Syracuse will have just one day of rest before they host Colgate at the Dome on Monday night.

Colgate traveled to Penn State and took down No. 4 team in the country, and is not a team that Syracuse can overlook.

After joking that tomorrow would be a hard conditioning day, head coach Gary Gait said his team will use the day to rest and focus on a strong mindset for Colgate.

“We have a sense of urgency," Gait said. "We have worked really hard for developing a new standard for this year. We’ve come together and decided how we expect to play and that’s a higher standard this year.”

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