Lacrosse Guide 2012

2012 LACROSSE SEASON PREVIEW

FACING THE UNKNOWN After the graduation of the winningest class in NCAA history, this year’s Orange looks to create its own legacy

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t h e i n de pe n de n t s t u de n t n e w spa pe r of s y r acuse , n e w yor k

Sports Editor Presentation Director Copy Chief Art Director Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Design Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Copy Editor

Mark Cooper Ankur Patankar Laurence Leveille Emmett Baggett Ryne Gery Chris Iseman Stacie Fanelli Ryan MacCammon Lauren Murphy Kristen Parker Beth Fritzinger Stephen Bailey Andrew Tredinnick

Dara McBride

Debbie Truong

EDITOR IN CHIEF

MANAGING EDITOR

General Manager IT Director Advertising Manager Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Intern Advertising Designer Advertising Designer Special Projects Digital Sales Business Intern Street Team Captain Circulation Manager Circulation Circulation Circulation

front page illustration by emmett baggett | art director

Peter Waack Mike Escalante Kelsey Rowland Joe Barglowski Allie Briskin William Leonard Bianca Rodriquez Andrew Steinbach Yiwei Wu Sam Weinberg Abby Legge Yoli Worth Rachel Meyer Nichelle Broner Tim Bennett Ian Brooks Harold Heron Joyce Placito Brooke Williams Tony Jing Zeng

Editor’s note: Dear readers, This 2012 Lacrosse Preview provides an extensive look at the upcoming season for both the Syracuse men’s and women’s teams. We hope you will enjoy a story on the group of goaltenders bidding to replace record-setting goalie John Galloway, a story on the dynamic attack duo of Tim Desko and Tommy Palasek, and a piece on the key cogs in the SU women’s team’s defense. There is also a compelling piece on the University of Michigan’s rise from club to Division-I lacrosse and a spread on some of the main players who will be contributing in the Syracuse midfield. With all of these stories and additional content, we hope you find this guide to be the perfect way to look toward the 2012 lacrosse season. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely, Mark Cooper Sports Editor

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Changing of the guard

Syracuse’s goaltending group vies to replace John Galloway.

Left to lead

Amid a defense decimated by graduation, veteran Brian Megill will be in command.

On the same page

After Tim Desko and Tommy Palasek each displayed flashes of brilliance last year, the two are poised to star together at attack.

Facing heat

Syracuse’s faceoff specialists look to correct their shortcomings in the X.

Knight and day

After building the Siena program into a consistent winner, Brian Brecht has taken on the job to construct a winner at Rutgers.

Middle men

Midfield seems to be a position of depth for Syracuse this season.

Play to protect

Following a down year, Syracuse women’s lacrosse hopes to have a bounceback season led by its experienced defense.

Entry level

Longtime Michigan club head coach John Paul leads the Wolverines into their first season at the Division-I level.

Special thanks to Sue Edson, Mike Morrison, Susie Mehringer and SU Athletic Communications

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Paul Dubas GAMES

2

GA

GAA

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SAVES

2 18.00 2

SAVE PCT.

50%

Dominic Lamolinara* GAMES

3

GA

GAA

SAVES

1 9.60 3

Ben Levy GAMES

2

GA

SAVE PCT.

Matt Lerman

75% GAA

GAMES SAVES

3 28.57 4

SAVE PCT.

7

GA

GAA

SAVES

5 8.47 8

3

SAVE PCT.

61.5%

57.1%

*Transferred from Maryland

stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor MATT LERMAN enters the season as John Galloway’s likely successor at the goaltender position. There are six other candidates waiting in the wings to try and fill the void.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD After Galloway’s legendary 4-year run, Lerman leads a group of goaltenders hoping to fill his shoes

By Chris Iseman

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ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

tanding alone in the crease, John Galloway watched the painful scene unfolding in front of him. The ball that ended Syracuse’s season seconds earlier rested on the grass behind him in the net, and Maryland stormed the turf and formed a celebratory dog pile at midfield.

While his teammates walked slowly and dejectedly off the Gillette Stadium field, Galloway stood and watched the Terrapins celebrate the win the Orange wanted so badly. It wasn’t an unfamiliar sight, coming one year after Army pulled off a NCAA tournament upset in the Carrier Dome and put the dagger through the heart of SU’s season.

Unlike that loss, though, Galloway wasn’t going to have the opportunity to avenge it. His time with SU was finished, and the program rested with his successor, Matt Lerman. And Galloway wanted to make sure Lerman understood the challenge ahead of him.

“At the end of the year last year when everything kind of ended abruptly and we didn’t really know what to do, Matt and I spoke and I just told him the keys are in his hands now,” Galloway said. “He’s just very excited to have a

chance. His chance.”

His chance to help restore the Orange to greatness.

When Syracuse’s 2011 season came to a crushing end in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals in a 6-5 overtime loss to Maryland, Galloway walked off the field as the most successful goalie in college lacrosse history with 59 wins and two championships under his belt. With his departure, the stability that Syracuse had between the pipes was gone, too. Galloway is now 629 miles south of Syracuse as a volunteer assistant coach with Duke. Trying to replace him is no easy task, and at the start of the 2012 season, the Orange had seven goaltenders vying for the spot.

Before one of the Orange’s practices early in the spring season, Lerman stood near the sideline and looked around the field. At every spot on the Carrier Dome turf, there seemed to be a goaltender warming up.

And Lerman said he wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

“It’s a huge competition, but I think it’s really good for me and everyone else. It’s been really good for me to come in and feel the competition and have to really earn it,” Lerman said. “…

For me, I always felt like it was mine to earn,

and everyone else’s to earn, and I just have to out-earn everyone.

Besides Lerman, there’s sophomore Ben Levy and senior Paul Dubas, who have played in a combined four games in their careers.

There’s Dominic Lamolinara, a transfer from Maryland, and then there are three raw freshmen who aren’t likely to see much time in the net this season.

At SU’s annual media day in January, Desko said the seven would be pared down to three or four, with the candidates the coaches know the best likely advancing to the next round of the competition. The process would then continue until a starter is named. But in the backdrop of Desko’s assurance that it was an open competition, Lerman remained the clear front-runner.

As Desko put it, Lerman had the nod.

“He’s a very good save in the goal. He did that, showed us that last year,” Desko said. “He got better as the year went on. … We’re happy with where he’s at. Like the other guys, he needs to keep going. But right now, I’d say he’s the front-runner based on his experience.”

With seven goaltenders, they each see significantly fewer repetitions in practice. Desko said that once the coaches trim the group to three or four, the remaining goalies are going to be

standing around and watching a bit more.

Until that point, the job is up for grabs. In theory, anyway.

“It definitely drives me. There are seven goalies on the team, so every rep is important because you don’t get a lot in practice,” Lamolinara said. “We’re just making the most of the reps we get, and we know we’re getting looked at.”

Of the seven, Lerman has the obvious advantage to take over for Galloway. And Galloway said he’s the perfect one to do so.

“I remember the one thing telling him, ‘Don’t be like John Galloway, be Matt Lerman,’” Galloway said. “Matt Lerman is just as good, or even better, than I ever was. I hope he really takes that to heart and does things his way and really makes his own lasting legacy at Syracuse.”

Lerman redshirted in 2010 before becoming Galloway’s primary backup last season. The sophomore played in seven games, allowing five goals and making eight saves in a little more than 35 minutes of action Through the winter, Lerman spent time trying to get focused on the upcoming season. As the opening of spring practice approached, the idea of becoming the next starting goaltender

SEE GOALTENDERS PAGE 10

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LEFT TO LEAD As the veteran of SU’s defense, Megill looks to carry on a proud tradition started by his predecessors

By Ryne Gery

“He’s going to be one of the better defenseman in the country this year.

He has the abilities, he understands the game and he’s a great leader.”

Former SU defender Tom Guadagnolo

“Brian’s just been that humble kid who’s gone through, worked hard the past two years and really deserves to be captain. There’s no one else on that field that just does more than Brian.”

Former SU long-stick midfielder Joel White

“He’s the guy that’s out there laying hits and sticking out his nose and is just physical without being told to do so.

You know you have something special, especially in our sport, you look for that all the time.”

Former SU goaltender John Galloway

“He can be a one-on-one defenseman, he can be an off-ball defenseman and you can’t substitute for someone like that. He can play any position on the field.”

Former SU defender John Lade

stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor BRIAN MEGILL is the lone returning starter on Syracuse’s defense this season. SU lost All-American defenders Joel White, John Lade and Tom Guadagnolo, and arguably the greatest goaltender in NCAA lacrosse history in John Galloway to graduation.

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ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

he impact of the hit echoed throughout the Carrier Dome.

Seven minutes into the first game of his Syracuse career, Brian Megill proved he belonged out on the field as a starter. The freshman defender drilled Denver’s Alex Drexler along the left sideline, leaving him down on the ground in pain and knocking him out of the game.

The crushing hit sent a woozy Drexler wobbling to the sideline with a concussion and officially established Megill as a rising star in college lacrosse.

“Everybody kind of knew after that hit, this guy’s the real deal and people who didn’t know about him were about to find out because he was able to blow this kid up,” former SU goaltender John Galloway said. “And I’ll never forget it. It was against Denver, and we all kind of looked at each other and felt much more at ease.

“We knew that this kid wasn’t worried, he wasn’t scared to play and he was going to be special on Syracuse.”

Through two years, Megill has lived up to that billing. He went on to start every game during his first year, becoming the first freshman defender to do so under head coach John Desko.

And Megill brought that physical presence to a stifling defensive unit that ranked among the best in the country.

But now, the junior is expected to do more following the graduation of All-Americans Galloway, John Lade, Joel White and Tom Guadagnolo. As the lone returning starter on defense, it is on Megill’s shoulders to lead the unit and carry on the proud tradition.

“The last time that I talked to him, I told him that it was his defense now,” Lade said. “He’s got to definitely work harder than any other defenseman in the country, and he’s definitely got to be ready to play some great attackmen.”

His teammates and coaches rave about his work ethic. His intensity and physicality caught their attention immediately during the fall of his freshman year. And Guadagnolo and his former teammates all say the 6-foot, 226-pound Megill is the total package as a defender — strong enough to stop a bull dodger like Denver’s 6-foot-4, 210-pound attack Mark Matthews, but also quick enough to stick with Duke’s Jordan Wolf, a speedy 5-foot-9, 170-pound attack.

While Lade and Galloway couldn’t pick out a flaw in the preseason All-American’s game, Megill knows of one glaring weakness that has been there since high school. He’s gotten quicker over the years, but he’s still not quick enough.

White could see the frustration on Megill’s face as he chased Cornell attack Rob Pannell around the Carrier Dome field to no avail.

SEE MEGILL PAGE 10

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Tommy Palasek GAME

GOALS

ASSISTS

Cornell 2 1 Providence 1 1 Hobart 1 0 Rutgers 3 3 Notre Dame 2 0 St. Johns 2 2 Siena 1 4 Maryland 0 0

5

POINTS

3 2 1 6 2 4 5 0

Tim Desko

Denver 2 0 Army 3 0 Virginia 5 0 Georgetown 1 1 Albany 4 1 Johns Hopkins 0 0 Villanova 0 1 Duke 1 0 Princeton 0 0

2 3 5 2 5 0 1 1 0

stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor

ON THE SAME PAGE Seniors Desko, Palasek return to provide Syracuse with experience on an explosive offense

By Andrew Tredinnick

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ASST. COPY EDITOR

im Desko watched on the sideline as his dream season deteriorated before his eyes.

He had already surpassed his previous scoring totals for his first two seasons and was determined to get more. But after suffering a knee injury during Syracuse’s April 3 contest against Duke, countless attempts to get back on the field were thwarted by additional concerns to his health.

“It really hurt because guys that were seniors last year were the guys I came in with, and to not be able to finish off the season with them was really disappointing,” Desko said.

“It hurt watching every game and as I thought I was coming back each and every game, it wasn’t working out.”

In stepped Tommy Palasek, a transfer from Johns Hopkins, to try and fill the hole left by one of Syracuse’s premier scoring threats. Palasek fit in seamlessly and the SU offense didn’t skip a beat. The transfer scored a point in nine consecutive games, starting with the Duke contest and ending with a five-point contest in the Orange’s 10-4 victory over Siena in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Now, after Desko’s long and difficult road back to the playing field, the duo will pair up to provide the Orange with a dynamic scoring punch this season. And with a level of uncertainty surrounding each position on the field entering this season, the only question for the experienced unit up front may be how the two senior attacks mesh with limited time together on the field last season.

“I’m excited to play with Tommy, really

excited, especially with Derek (Maltz),” Desko said. “It’s going to be a special year, and it’s my senior year personally, so I’m going to leave it all out there.”

••• John Desko’s confidence in the attack unit may not have been what it is today if Palasek had not made a good impression when he joined the Orange last January.

With Stephen Keogh, JoJo Marasco and Desko having already played considerable time at SU, the Syracuse head coach knew he had one of the strongest attack lines in the nation.

And where Palasek fit into that lineup had yet to be seen.

Palasek missed fall practice and didn’t arrive at Syracuse until a few weeks before its joint scrimmage with Le Moyne and Hofstra.

And John Desko knew Palasek needed to learn the intricacies of the Syracuse offensive scheme if he had any chance of stepping on the field.

“I thought Tom, maybe last year with coming in, in January, might have been a good redshirt year for him to learn the offense only being here literally weeks before the season started,” John Desko said, “so to give him the spring to learn it all, then have two years, may have been a good move.

“But with the injury it was good to have Tom out there, and he got a lot of great experience.”

Desko said he was surprised at how quick Palasek was able to pick up the offensive sets because it was a process that took his whole redshirt season to understand. But Palasek was confident in his abilities and impressed the coaches with his work ethic and field vision.

SEE ATTACK PAGE 14

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stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor (FROM LEFT) RICKY BUHR AND CHRIS DADDIO will split time taking faceoffs this year, but their performance will need to improve after disappointing 2011 season.

TAKING OFF

By Mark Cooper

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SPORTS EDITOR

he nerves were uninviting. As Chris Daddio prepared before every game, he simply kept to himself, trying not to think about the magnitude of the game he was about to play in.

The tension felt new to Daddio as a freshman last season. The midfielder from Purcellville, Va., had never played in the Carrier Dome. The college game amplified the stakes and increased the speed of the moment whenever Daddio, a faceoff specialist, entered the faceoff X. “I didn’t really say much to anyone,” Daddio said. “I just kind of sat there with my head down in my locker, and I just put my headphones on and just tried to focus.”

Daddio’s nerves and inexperience showed at times on the field. And he wasn’t alone.

Syracuse’s inability to win faceoffs last season proved to be one of its downfalls. The Orange won just 48.3 percent of faceoffs and was completely dominated by Maryland faceoff specialist Curtis Holmes in SU’s NCAA tournament quarterfinals loss. Winning just 3-of-14 faceoffs in that 6-5 overtime loss May 22 allowed the Terrapins to control play.

Whenever the Orange struggled to get going last year, it was often due to faceoffs. Daddio had the best percentage of winning faceoffs for SU,

at 50 percent. Jeremy Thompson (49.6 percent) took the most faceoffs, but he graduated and left a pair of sophomores — Daddio and Ricky Buhr — to lead the way. Buhr won 48.6 percent of faceoffs last year, but he and Daddio combined to go just 3-of-9 in the NCAA quarterfinal loss.

Since last season’s shocking end, faceoffs have been a point of emphasis for Syracuse.

“Faceoffs are important, especially the way teams play us,” assistant coach Kevin Donahue said. “Everyone wants to stall the ball, so it’s really important that everything we do in practice, anywhere we can get a possession or not lose one becomes critical, and faceoffs are obviously a place where we can do both.”

For Daddio and Buhr, most of the struggles come with what Syracuse calls “phase two,” which is when the faceoff specialist has to get the ball out and get possession. Donahue said the two are both very strong clampers, but their weakness is working on getting the ball where they want it to be and picking it up.

There’s been an increased effort this season to improve phase two. Buhr said the faceoff specialists go off to the side in practice to work on techniques more this season than last season.

Instead of training 15-20 minutes while the rest of the team did line drills, Daddio and Buhr are working and getting repetitions on the side while Syracuse is working on many offensive-

After struggles at the X doomed SU a season ago, faceoff specialists made improvement a point of emphasis based drills.

“It really showed that it hurt us a little bit (last year) where we should have been focusing more on facing off than focusing on playing offense and running in on defense and stuff,” Buhr said.

Donahue said a combination of things will lead to improvement. Increased repetitions are important. The more the faceoff specialists — who also include sophomore Drew Jenkins and freshman Mike Messina — work on their technique, the more their muscle memory will kick in. Some of it is confidence as well.

With a year under their belts, Daddio’s and Buhr’s confidences have been raised from experience. They’ve seen the best faceoff specialists in the country and now know what they need to improve on.

“I’ve got to be more explosive than I was last year,” Buhr said, “because the game’s a lot quicker than it was in high school, where I used to pop it out right to myself and I’d have plenty of time.

“Now it’s the college level, you get the ball out and they’re already right there, and they’re hacking right on your arms, so I got to be more explosive.”

Buhr honed his explosiveness in the offseason by playing in a summer league with current and former college players. He was invited by

his close friend Paul Carcaterra, a former Syracuse All-American midfielder.

Carcaterra told Buhr what he needed to work on and asked him to play on his summer league team in Westchester County. So every Thursday night, Buhr did, and he improved by going up against top competition.

Buhr said he faced off against players from Virginia, Loyola (Md.) and Cornell, some of whom he had been facing off against since he was younger. But the overall experience taught him what he needed to do to help the Orange have more success in faceoffs.

“I felt like last year I got the clamp the majority of the time, but it was the phase two that really hurt me when I started to rake it out,” Buhr said. “… But this year I feel more confident putting it between my legs and getting the ball and getting possession.”

Back at Syracuse, the team has gotten a boost from another former SU player. Tim Harder, a former defender who played on last season’s team, works as an assistant with the defense and faceoff specialists.

Having Harder on the field in practice has been beneficial to SU’s faceoff game.

“Huge bonus right away,” Donahue said.

“Tim gives me another eye, he has a different style.”

SEE FACEOFFS PAGE 15

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7

top: courtesy of siena athletic communications right: courtesy of rutgers athletic communications BRIAN BRECHT turned a mediocre Siena program into a well-respected conference powerhouse. After leading the Saints to four MAAC conference championships and its first NCAA tournament berth, Brecht heads to Rutgers in hopes of a similar turnaround.

KNIGHT AND DAY New Rutgers head coach Brecht built Siena’s program to new heights and has his sights set on doing the same for the Scarlet Knights

By Nick Toney

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STAFF WRITER

rian Brecht’s promises sounded farfetched to Tom Morr. The Saints goaltender had never heard of Siena — let alone its lacrosse program — when Brecht recruited him in 2008.

But when Brecht made his pitch, he didn’t talk about building a fledgling program. He talked about winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the first time in program history, earning NCAA tournament berths and mounting championship runs in May. “I had to Google Siena’s lacrosse history, and historically, they didn’t look like a team that could make those kind of runs,” Morr said.

Even though the Saints hadn’t had a winning record since 1983, Brecht had a vision to build the program into a winner. In seven seasons as head coach, Brecht transformed the Siena lacrosse team from a perennial loser in the MAAC to fourtime conference champions. Brecht, who was named head coach at Rutgers in June, now hopes he can rebuild the Scarlet Knights using the same blueprint of setting the bar high from the start.

The Rutgers job is a homecoming for the

three-time MAAC Coach of the Year. Brecht attended his first lacrosse camp at Rutgers as a sixth-grader who was new to the sport. Later, he helped organize the RU lacrosse camp as a college counselor. And Brecht was an assistant coach for the Scarlet Knights during the 2000-01 season, when he learned his trademark up-anddown style from then-head coach Tom Hayes.

“Coaching Rutgers is all I could ask for,” said Brecht. “As a Long Island native, it feels good to be back around this area with a shot at something new and exciting.”

As the team’s head coach, Brecht has his work cut out for him. The Scarlet Knights haven’t had a winning record since 2007, and he’ll face heavy competition on the recruiting trail for in-state while facing tough competition in the Big East.

Brecht said it’s special to have the opportunity to revive the program that jumpstarted his career.

“Rutgers owes something to our students, fans and alumni,” Brecht said. “We have great facilities and a great attitude here, and that’s a start.”

Recruiting great players is another story, though. Many top recruits in the New Jersey area choose historically competitive programs

like Duke, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and Syracuse over nearby Rutgers.

The shifting Big East conference is another recruiting headache for Brecht. With Syracuse joining the top programs in the country in a superconference in the ACC, Brecht will have to get creative to sell the playing experience of the Big East to keep the program from becoming an afterthought.

Rutgers midfielder Will Mangan knows what it feels like to be an afterthought. After a third consecutive disappointing season last year, then-Rutgers head coach Jim Stagnitta resigned after 10 years as coach, and his teammates vowed they’d never feel like losers again.

“It was the same feeling of ‘here were go again,’” Mangan said. “We all hated it, and we all wanted it to go away.”

Rutgers turned to Brecht to bring in a winning mentality.

Mangan knew the former Siena coach was a “hot name” in the lacrosse world, but like Siena’s Morr, he knew nothing about Siena lacrosse. He said he called a few Saints players just to find out if Brecht was the right man for the job.

Mangan’s fears were repressed after Brecht’s

first team meeting. The new head coach’s commitment to playing in the postseason was a welcome message to Mangan and his teammates.

“Our goal is to play in the month of May, clear and simple,” Brecht said. “And players need to be on board with that.”

Siena senior attack Bryan Neufeld said Rutgers players should be “ready to run” to execute Brecht’s up-and-down attack. And if the Scarlet Knights players don’t give maximum effort, Morr said they’ll hear about it.

“I’ve been on the other end of some pretty intense venting sessions,” Morr said. “But he has the right plan (for the team) in mind.”

Part of that plan involves ensuring that Brecht has the right type of player for his program. At Siena, several players, including Morr and Neufeld, found themselves in trouble with campus police.

The next day at practice, Brecht made sure the Saints paid for their mistakes.

“I let in a goal, or something, and all of a sudden he let me hear about everything he knew about that night,” Morr said. “I shouldn’t have given him the opening to do it because we were

SEE RUTGERS PAGE 15

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HAKEEM LECKY

STEVE IANZITO

HENRY SCHOONMAKER

Hakeem Lecky is ready to go. After spending a year at prep school and redshirting last season due to a wrist injury, Lecky will finally get a chance to take the field for Syracuse this season.

“I’m even more hungrier than I was last year because of the injury,” Lecky said. “I’m excited to be back, just trying to work even harder than I did last year around this time that I got injured.”

The redshirt freshman was rated the No. 30 overall prospect by Inside Lacrosse coming out of Duxbury (Mass.) High School in 2009. He then spent a year at Avon (Conn.) Old Farms School before finally landing at Syracuse last season, when his college career was delayed another year.

Now, Lecky heads into the 2012 season as a part of SU’s first midfield line after the Orange lost its entire starting midfield line from a year ago. SU head coach John Desko said he planned to build the second midfield line around Lecky and to give him some time with the first line before he got hurt.

JoJo Marasco, who will play alongside Lecky on the first line, said Lecky is an explosive player who has worked hard to adapt his game coming off the injury, putting himself in position to become one of SU’s top playmakers this season.

“He’s changed his game in the past couple years and really shows he’s a top middie in the country,” Marasco said. “And he’s just a great player.”

Steve Ianzito could finally relax out on the field.

After notching his first career goal last year against Virginia, the midfielder started looking to make plays rather than avoiding mistakes.

Ianzito spent the first two games of the season trying not to lose his spot on the second midfield line. But when he got on the board against the Cavaliers, he realized he needed to stay aggressive to stay on the field.

“Every game after that, I either had a point or was making big plays,” Ianzito said. “So after I got that first goal, I definitely got a lot more confidence and built more confidence out there.”

Ianzito emerged as a key contributor on SU’s second line in 2011, recording a point in six of the Orange’s final 10 games. He played in all 17 games and finished the season with eight points on five goals and three assists. With that experience under his belt, the junior enters this season with confidence anchoring the second midfield line.

With the loss of the entire first unit from last season, Ianzito and his teammates will play a crucial role to give the offense a boost when called upon.

After last season, Ianzito knows what to expect. And after establishing himself as a playmaker on that second line, Ianzito said he plans to keep the same attacking mentality to make something happen when he’s out on the field.

Henry Schoonmaker jumped into the discussion of who he would step up to play in Syracuse’s midfield lines seemingly out of nowhere. The redshirt freshman was a relative unknown heading into fall practice, but after impressing the SU coaches with his abilities, Schoonmaker earned himself a spot on the second midfield line.

The Oregon native scored two goals in Syracuse’s scrimmage against the Alumni All-Stars back in October, proving his standout performances weren’t only in practices and essentially solidifying his role on a line.

“I think the biggest thing was just getting confidence,” Schoonmaker said. “And obviously I just tried to work in the offense and the defense and show that I’m going to try to be a two-way middie and try to play some defense and do whatever they want me to do, try to work inside the offense, try to get some pass back and try to get some assists and goals.”

Schoonmaker redshirted his freshman season since the midfield lines were hammered out before practices ever began, and he likely wouldn’t have had much of a role. One season later, that’s all about to change. He’ll be on the second line along with Scott Loy and Steve Ianzito.

While his college lacrosse experience is limited, the Oregon native boasts an impressive high school resume. Schoonmaker was a 2010 U.S. Lacrosse All-American and Oregon State Player of the Year. He also scored an astounding 68 goals while picking up 35 assists during his senior season.

Redshirt junior, Clay, N.Y.

Redshirt freshman, Nantucket, Mass.

stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor

ankur patankar | presentation director

MIDDLE MEN

Redshirt freshman, Portland, Ore.

ankur patankar | presentation director

JoJo Marasco moves from attack to midfielder to lead SU’s first line, but these six will be jockeying for time as well

BOBBY EILERS

KEVIN DREW

SCOTT LOY

Bobby Eilers ascended to the top of the ranks in Syracuse’s midfield in no time.

The former second-liner was selected in the 2012 Major League Lacrosse Draft and was named team captain to start the season.

His breakout moment came in last season’s New England Lacrosse Classic, when Eilers notched his first career hat trick in a 13-3 win over Providence. And entering this season, Eilers has emerged from the thick of the midfield competition to serve as the team’s anchor in the position this season. He will likely play on the starting midfield line with Hakeem Lecky and JoJo Marasco.

But Eilers was not willing to admit he had even secured a spot in head coach John Desko’s starting lineup.

“There’s a fresh slate for every midfielder coming in here,” Eilers said. “Every midfielder has a chance to start, so we really got after it in the fall, and we’re still getting after it everyday because no spot is secured yet.”

Eilers leadership abilities make him a prime candidate to lead the first line as Syracuse enters the season. He registered eight goals on the second midfield line a year ago and is helping develop some of the young midfield talent as well.

“We have some very intricate plays here at Syracuse, but coach Desko teaches them well,” Eilers said, “and sometimes the younger kids need to be refreshed and instead of going to the coaches they can come to us. ... They’re never scared to ask, and we like when they ask because then we’re getting the plays right and everyone is on the same page.”

Kevin Drew’s future on the lacrosse field is still uncertain.

The senior defensive midfielder was reinstated for classes at the beginning of the semester after a hit-and-run accident that occurred Oct. 24. Drew did not play in SU’s dual scrimmage against Hofstra and Le Moyne, but he is practicing with the team.

And despite the unsettled future, Drew is happy he still has that opportunity. As one of the few seniors on the team, Drew has used his defensive prowess to help teach some of his younger teammates.

“I’ve been playing since my freshman year, so just letting the other guys know what to do at practice every day and how to get better,” Drew said. “Just defensive stuff like teaching them when to slide and when to play hands and stuff like that.”

Last season, Drew was a rock at the defensive midfield position, playing in each of the Orange’s 17 games. He scored six goals and was third on the team with 14 ground balls.

It has yet to be seen how Drew will contribute this season, and with a young midfield in place, any contributions will surely help. Each player at the position has bigger responsibilities, but Drew knows they are capable of rising to the challenge.

“We’ve got some kids that have been playing since they were little,” Drew said. “… Everyone’s got to step up. We lost a lot of guys, but everyone has been playing at practice pretty good, so we’ll be all right.”

Scott Loy earned playing time as the 2011 season progressed, and he impressed his coaches along the way. Now, with a year under his belt, Loy is going to be expected to put that experience to good use as a member of the second midfield line.

The sophomore played in 15 games last season and scored three goals and had one assist.

Compared to the amount of playing time he’ll see this year, that experience is fairly limited.

Still, Syracuse head coach John Desko has repeatedly said he likes what Loy can bring to the midfield. Along with Steve Ianzito and Henry Schoonmaker, the second midfield line could pack a significant offensive punch.

Though his playing time was somewhat limited, he still enters the 2012 season as one of the most experienced midfielders. Loy said that will only help when it comes to allowing the younger midfielders to have time to mature and develop.

When Loy began 2011, he said he was hesitant on the field because of a constant focus on avoiding mistakes. Once that hesitation faded away, though, Loy became a solid contributor.

And now in 2012, that’s the way he wants to play immediately.

“Coach even told me last year in the beginning that I was playing a little tentative, trying not to make mistakes,” Loy said. “He pretty much told me: ‘Start playing your game, don’t play reluctant.’ I think that’s really helped my confidence and my game in general.”

Senior, Katonah, N.Y.

Senior, Simsbury, Conn.

ankur patankar | presentation director

stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor

Sophomore, Toledo, Ohio

—Compiled by Ryne Gery,

ankur patankar | presentation director

Chris Iseman, Andrew Tredinnick

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GOALTENDERS FROM PAGE 3

began to crystallize in his mind.

“I just focus a lot on trying to clear my head in December, January, leading up to now,” Lerman said. “Sort of, it’s been a long year. … It’s been a lot of hard work and really trying to define what I’m going to be in the net with my own game rather than trying to follow someone else.”

Through his two seasons with the Orange, Lerman has been known for his tireless work ethic. He stays after practice to take additional shots. He puts in extra time in the weight room, continuing to lift when most of his teammates have already left.

The way Galloway controlled a game is what Lerman said he admired most. Lerman called Galloway a “lacrosse guru” who knew as much about every position on the field as he did about goaltending.

But perhaps Galloway’s biggest strength is Lerman’s biggest weakness. Galloway had the ability to forget about a goal he allowed and move on to make the next save. He never dwelled on a failed save and always looked to make the next stop that came his way.

MEGILL FROM PAGE 4

With top cover man Lade out with an injury, Pannell torched Syracuse for six points, scoring two of his three goals against Megill in the second quarter as SU fell for the first and only time of the regular season in 2011.

“I learned a lot,” Megill said. “I learned I was still really slow because Rob Pannell is fast. He’s a great attackman, best I’ve seen in a long, long time.”

With that game in the back of his mind, Megill entered the offseason determined to get faster. His brother, Ray, a former All-American defender at Maryland, had been telling him his footwork needed improvement since high school.

But Megill could get by using his superior strength to overpower opponents then and didn’t take his brother’s advice.

This past offseason, the agility drills he once ignored became a part of his routine. He kept a speed ladder, cones, parachute and weighted vest in the back of his truck.

“There’s times where he would just at the most random point in the day, he would just hop up and say, ‘I’m going to go for a run or I’m going to go workout,’” Ray Megill said. “So he definitely does have a tireless work ethic.”

Megill tested himself even more when he

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Lerman, on the other hand, is still learning how to let go of his mistakes. Galloway said Lerman is a perfectionist, likely to a fault, but if he can control his emotions in the goal, he’ll be one step closer to attaining greatness for Syracuse.

For now, it’s an ongoing process.

“He gets angry when he gets scored on. Some goalies are like that more than others,” said assistant coach Kevin Donahue, who works

“It’s been a lot of hard work and really trying to define what I’m going to be in the net with my own game rather than trying to follow someone else.”

Matt Lerman

SU GOALTENDER

primarily with the defense and goaltenders. “He is a perfectionist. He’s a student of the game. He really gets mad when he gets scored on. … He has to calm down a little bit with that, but that’s

spent part of the summer living with his brother in Rockville, Md. Ray Megill put him through CrossFit workouts, an unconventional fitness program designed to increase endurance and push athletes to their limits.

The workouts can be as short as five minutes or as long as an hour. From up-downs and tire flips to box jumps and medicine ball training, the intense sessions were grueling.

“Brian can play anyone, anytime. I don’t have a problem putting him on anyone in the country.”

Lelan Rogers

SU ASSISTANT COACH

But Megill was hungry to get better, motivated by his struggles against Pannell last April.

“I use that game as my drive to workout and to get better because I feel like I can play so much better and do better,” Megill said. “And he’s one of the guys that I think about when I’m working out, that pushes me even harder, that gets me going that when I’m sitting down watching TV, I’m like, ‘I wonder what he’s doing.’”

That work ethic has defined Megill’s entire Syracuse career.

kind of my job to help him with that.”

Lerman and his predecessor also differ in their playing styles.

While Galloway was nationally known for his defense in net, he was also a vital part of Syracuse’s offense. Galloway became one of the most consistent and effective clearing goaltenders in the nation, sending long passes downfield to his teammates and putting them in perfect position to score in transition before opposing defenses could get set.

Last season against Providence, Galloway stood close to 22 yards in front of his goal and sent a pass of about 55 yards to long-stick midfielder Joel White, who caught the pass and quickly flipped it into the net for a score, giving Galloway his first career point.

Without Galloway, a major part of SU’s transition offense could take a hit. But Galloway said Lerman won’t take the “stupid risks” he took.

Instead, he will be more methodical in clearing the ball, allowing that transition offense to still thrive.

“I think Matt’s going to be a great clearing goalie in his own right,” he said. “We go about things differently. What people aren’t going to understand is the way I cleared isn’t the only way. Matt’s going to be very consistent. He throws a great outlet.”

Still, Syracuse’s No. 1 guard is changing. Galloway left behind an unparalleled legacy, one that won’t be easily matched, if it’s ever matched at all.

Around college lacrosse, though, the Orange still holds the image of being elite, regardless of the drop to No. 7 in the preseason rankings.

Galloway’s new boss, Duke head coach John Danowski, said that when talented players leave Syracuse, there are plenty more waiting in the wings.

“Syracuse reloads. They’re always going to be terrific,” Danowski said. “They have a great tradition, phenomenal coaching staff, the kids loving playing there. They love the Syracuse experience. They’re going to be great.”

Every couple of days, Lerman still calls Galloway for advice. It will be about anything from fundamentals of the game to controlling a defense to keeping emotions in check on the field. The resource Lerman had for two years is still only a phone call away.

But that’s far enough to be in the Orange’s past. Galloway left his legacy, and now it’s Lerman’s turn to do the same.

His chance. His legacy.

“It’s going to be more making my own way through it,” Lerman said, “rather than replacing John.”

Megill wasn’t highly touted coming out of Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark, N.J., but he separated himself from the rest of his class and forced his way into the discussion for the open starting spot on defense during fall practice.

The young defender was a pest, slashing and laying hits on big-time attack Cody Jamieson and Chris Daniello, who had helped the Orange to two straight national titles before he arrived.

White remembers Megill injecting life into a dead practice with a big hit or a fast-break goal, telling his teammates through his actions to pick up the intensity.

“He wasn’t afraid to come across the middle and stir up things even in practice,” White said. “I can definitely remember a couple of times him coming across the middle and laying someone out and really spicing up practice a little bit.”

Through his hustle at practice, Megill earned the respect of his teammates in the locker room.

Guadagnolo said the young defender pushed them to get better. He yelled at juniors and seniors if he felt they could go harder — something rarely seen in an underclassman.

And Megill also made an impression through his actions in the weight room.

Megill was often seen in a full sweat suit on a treadmill overlooking the football weight room as he tried to shed pounds and improve his conditioning. Multiple times, Guadagnolo recalled seeing Megill running after practice when everyone else had already left for the night.

“Even if he didn’t say something, just other guys seeing him doing it, it would change their perspective on things, and they would start

doing it,” Guadagnolo said. “‘Oh man, this guy’s only a sophomore, and he’s working harder than you or he’s working harder than me.’ Guys would be embarrassed, so now we need to start doing it, too.”

His relentless drive struck Galloway during the fall of Megill’s freshman year.

In the corner of Wohl Field before a practice,

cjiseman@syr.edu

“The last time that I talked to him, I told him that it was his defense now. He’s got to definitely work harder than any other defenseman in the country, and he’s definitely got to be ready to play some great attackmen.”

John Lade

FORMER SU DEFENDER

Megill approached the junior goaltender, who could tell the rookie had a lot on his mind. The defender was agonizing over the decision to redshirt or play as a freshman, and he sought advice from Galloway.

The quick conversation ended with Galloway giving him a vote of confidence, telling Megill he could earn the starting spot after seeing his aggressive style of play and eagerness to learn.

In that moment, Galloway said he first realized Megill would be special. About five months later, his eye-opening hit against Denver proved it. And two years later, the lacrosse world knows his name as one of the top players in the game, just as Galloway predicted.

“I told people his freshman year, ‘He’s going to go down as one of the best defenders that Syracuse University’s ever had,’” Galloway said.

“His physicality, his stick skills, he just has that special something that you’re looking for in a teammate.” rjgery@syr.edu

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2 01 2 l acrosse season pr eview

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PLAY TO PROTECT

Syracuse’s experienced back line strives to improve consistency heading into 2012 season

By Stephen Bailey

A

ASST. COPY EDITOR

nother mile wasn’t a problem.

Syracuse completes a fitness training session every practice. A 300-yard shuttle run followed by a mile run.

But 15 minutes after finishing the training at the start of a Jan. 18 practice, the team was asked to run again.

“We had two in one day and everyone was fired up, ready to go,” senior defender Janelle Stegeland said. “Everything went well. During practice, we’re never walking through anything. It’s always go, go, go. Run to the water, get a break, get back in.”

That infectious intensity is propelling the Orange defenders to improve upon last year’s blunders. Entering the 2011 season as the No. 12 team in the nation, Syracuse allowed doubledigit goals in seven of its eight losses en route to a 10-8 finish and disappointing semifinal exit from the Big East tournament.

After allowing 10.22 goals per game last season and committing 33 yellow cards —10th most in the nation — the SU defense, Stegeland included, is working hard to clean up its sloppy play and avoid another premature departure from postseason play.

Assistant coach Regy Thorpe is imparting a slew of tactical adjustments on his defenders: improving communication between the goaltender and the defenders, eliminating secondand third-chance opportunities for opposing offenses and forcing play to the outside in oneon-one situations.

The unit has come out with a level of fervency unmatched in previous training camps, Stegeland said.

“Honestly, we’ve come out really big,” Stegeland said. “Being a senior, fourth year here, this is the most energetic team I’ve ever been on. So I think it’s really awesome that’s everyone’s all in, everyone’s going hard at all times.”

Senior defender Jill Cammett has seen that energy best exemplified when the team runs its seven versus seven groundball drill.

With all 14 players on the field, assistant coach Katrina Dowd will roll a ball onto the field and each team will battle for possession.

After someone picks it up, she shoots and Dowd immediately puts the next ball in play.

“It just works on being in a cluttered area and who can come up with the ball and really finish it out without getting any empty stick checks or anything,” Cammett said.

Seniors Stegeland and Cammett will be relied on heavily to fill the void left by standout defender Catherine Rodriguez, who graduated after last season. Juniors Becca Block and Linley Block, and sophomore Natalie Glanell, who started nine games during her freshman campaign, are also expected to see extensive minutes.

Glanell is one of three defenders who saw action last season as freshmen, along with Kasey Mock and Liz Harbeson.

Thorpe has seen vast improvements in both playing level and confidence from each of the three sophomores. Mock, who saw time in 11 games last season, called the experience a “confidence builder.”

“Any time that you see on the field is just one more second that you can build your confidence with,” Mock said. “… Definitely seeing the field for as little as I did last year, (was) definitely just a confidence builder.”

SEE DEFENSE PAGE 15

Jill Cammett YEAR

Becca Block YEAR

Janelle Stegeland YEAR

GAMES STARTED

Sr. 39

GAMES STARTED

Sr. 15

GAMES PLAYED

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Jr. 22

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stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor JANELLE STEGELAND, BECCA BLOCK AND JILL CAMMETT lead a Syracuse defense looking to atone for an underwhelming 2011 season. SU allowed 10.22 goals per game, committed 33 yellow card fouls and was bounced in the Big East tournament semifinals.

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courtesy of michigan athletic media relations JOHN PAUL spent 26 years working with the Michigan club lacrosse program, as a player and coach. This spring, Paul’s Wolverines play their first season at the Division-I level.

ENTRY LEVEL

By David Propper

J

STAFF WRITER

ohn Paul is a Michigan man. But about a year ago, he almost left the school he loved. The only school he’s ever wanted to be a part of.

Paul had been a student at the University of Michigan. He has been involved in its club lacrosse program for 26 years, first as a player, then as an assistant coach and the last 14 years as its head coach. In 2010, he and his wife decided that last season would be his final with Michigan. After accomplishing almost everything he could with the Wolverines club lacrosse team, in his mind it was time to move on.

But late last May, Michigan gave him a reason to stick around.

On May 25, the Michigan athletic department announced the expansion of its varsity sports, upgrading men’s lacrosse to the varsity level. After more than 70 years stuck in the club status, Michigan is the first powerconference school in 30 years to add lacrosse as an NCAA-level sport. Though the move sent a rippling effect through the lacrosse community, Paul’s primary concern is establishing a winning attitude in the team’s first season, an opportunity he’s grateful to have after coming so close to walking away from Ann Arbor, Mich.

“It was a bit of a relief,” Paul said. “I’ve been here my whole life. I had gone to school here and worked here, been coaching here. ... If nothing was going to happen, then we were going to move on, and this is allowing us to stay, which is the only place we want to be.”

Though lacrosse is just being added to an athletic department that is composed of 27 varsity teams, Paul said the club team positioned itself

to move up to varsity sooner than this year. The Wolverines won three straight national titles at the club level from 2008-10. Equipped with a winning tradition, an organized structure and a donor base that cultivated interest throughout the university, the only component missing was an athletic director willing to take a risk on a sport that’s been slow to grow beyond the Eastern Seaboard.

Enter Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon. Paul said without Brandon, there’s no way Michigan has an NCAA lacrosse program.

“We had everything in place to make this a fairly easy decision, but we could have had 99 other athletic directors and it wouldn’t have happened,” Paul said. “We got the right one.

“He wasn’t just instrumental, it was him.

None of this happens if we don’t have an athletic director whose entire vision is about growth.”

But the reason Brandon made the push is because of how lacrosse has continued to grow.

In a blog entry Brandon posted the day of the announcement, he pointed to how the sport continues to increase in popularity and participants.

In the post, he noted ESPN televised more than 70 games across the networks platform in 2011 alone. He also pointed out that in the state of Michigan over the past 10 years, 130 men’s and women’s high school teams have been added.

Even with those reasons listed, there was some risk for Brandon making the big move.

Paul admits Brandon is throwing a lot of money at the upstart program.

J.D. Johnson, a junior on the squad, said the risk doesn’t involve on-field performance, but putting varsity jackets on a squad of club players and whether they can handle the transition.

One player who never thought he’d even have a shot at earning a varsity letter was fifth-year

Club powerhouse Michigan has high ambitions as it takes its program to Division I

senior Trevor Yealy.

Yealy said he heard rumors there was always a shot at varsity lacrosse, but nothing substantial enough to get excited about. Yealy thought by the time it happened, he’d be gone.

Wrong.

“Once we actually started becoming more clear and concrete last year, that’s when we thought this might actually be happening. Here we go,” Yealy said.

And with an opportunity Yealy never saw coming, the attack and the rest of his teammates are in a unique position. The Wolverines go from a club team that dominated opponents to a team that lacks Division-I talent. They go from a club program that has high standards to a team that has to reach new levels.

Yealy said he’s aware things might not come easy for the newest team on the block. For the first time in his Michigan career, losing might be the final result.

“We know it’s going to be difficult,” Yealy said. “We know there’s going to be bumps in the road and there’s going to be close games.”

Paul also has no disillusions of what his team is capable of in its first year. His squad might not win a single game, but the record is irrelevant.

This year’s team has a higher calling. If future teams want to have a winning tradition, “team one” — as the Wolverines are known around campus — has to set the tone for that.

Paul said the mission for his team is in its control. Developing an elite Division-I culture is the only thing they can dictate.

“That’s something we can control, and that’s something that can set us up for the future, and that’s something our players are excited about to be honest with you,” Paul said.

“This may be their one shot as we recruit. Who knows how long an opportunity each of them

will have, but they have yet to leave their mark on team one.”

Paul set the tone early by bringing in former military men to run practice of intense and grueling workouts called “Judgment Day.” Players didn’t need lacrosse equipment. It was replaced with logs and heavy sandbags they had to carry while sprinting. They even carried one another down the field.

Every exercise had to be perfect. If a player gave 99 percent, it wasn’t good enough.

Johnson said the workout allowed him to demand more out of his teammates.

“It gave us a little insight in what a Division-I culture looks like,” Johnson said. “Basically, we need to be perfect, and this is the way to do that.”

Zach Elyachar, who played club lacrosse for four years and graduated in 2009, said this team probably won’t reach a final four this year or win even 10 games. But with what Paul has in place, it isn’t crazy to think three or four years down the road Michigan could contend in Division I. “I’m glad J.P. was given this opportunity to be the head coach that leads us into our first varsity season, and I hope he’s there for a long time to continue,” Elyachar said.

And so begins the birth of the Michigan varsity lacrosse program. Ironically, it coincides with the birth of Paul’s first child, a baby girl born a few weeks before the season officially got underway.

But rather than starting a family away from Michigan, Paul can raise his infant daughter at the only place he knows as home. A place he never wants to even think about leaving.

“I’d like to retire here,” Paul said. “This is where we made our home, and this is where we want to keep our home.” dgproppe@syr.edu

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2 01 2 l acrosse season pr eview

BIG EAST OUTLOOK SYRACUSE

It’s expected to be a bit of a down year for the Orange after graduating seven starters. In 2011, SU finished undefeated in conference play en route to winning its second straight Big East championship. Syracuse entered the NCAA tournament with just one loss before knocking off No. 20 Siena in the first round. SU then lost to No. 8 Maryland in overtime in the quarterfinals. The strength of this year’s team is the attack unit led by Tim Desko and Tommy Palasek. Brian Megill, who was named the Big East Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year, will lead an inexperienced defense. JoJo Marasco, who will be playing primarily midfield after splitting between midfield and attack last season, joined Megill as a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big East First Team.

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 15-2 (6-0)

LAST YEAR’S BIG EAST FINISH: FIRST

NOTRE DAME

Notre Dame was No. 1 for the first time in program history last season, but it couldn’t sustain it to win the Big East championship and finished behind Syracuse. The Orange was the only team ND fell to in conference play last season. Like SU, the Fighting Irish are led by a talented defense anchored by Big East Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year John Kemp. A unanimous selection as the All-Big East Preseason Team’s goaltender, Kemp anchors the defense and was the second best in the nation a year ago, allowing just 6.60 goals per game. Notre Dame also boasts one of the top faceoff specialists in the conference in Liam O’Conner. The sophomore won 55.7 percent of his faceoffs a year ago while splitting time with Jake Marmul, who graduated.

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 11-3 (5-1) LAST YEAR’S BIG EAST FINISH: SECOND

VILLANOVA

Villanova is one of the nation’s up-and-coming programs and appears ready to take the next step. The Wildcats reached No. 7 last season, their highest ranking in program history, and earned their first-ever at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, where the Wildcats were eliminated in the first round by Denver. Unlike the top two teams in the conference, Villanova’s star is on the offensive end. Kevin Cunningham scored a teamhigh 45 points despite missing three games due to injury. The senior also led the Big East in points per game with 3.46. His complementary option will likely be midfielder Matt Bell, who scored a point in all but two games a season ago.

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 11-5 (3-3)

LAST YEAR’S BIG EAST FINISH: FOURTH

GEORGETOWN

A perennial contender among Big East teams, the Hoyas finished just 7-7 last season, with four of those wins coming in conference play. Despite being projected to finish in the middle of the pack, Georgetown still has plenty of talent. Zack Angel is an All-Big East Preseason Team selection after scoring 15 goals last season. Travis Comeau is the other All-Big East Preseason selection for the Hoyas. The attack finished second in the conference with 30 goals and was third in the nation with a 49.2 shooting percentage.

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 7-7 (4-2) LAST YEAR’S BIG EAST FINISH: THIRD

ST. JOHN’S

Last year wasn’t pretty for the Red Storm. St. John’s won just four games and two in Big East play. Things may be about to turn around for the program, though. The Red Storm returns all but two starters from last season, including star long-stick midfielder Dillon Ayers. The junior led the team in both ground balls with 56 and turnovers forced with 21. St. John’s also returns its three leading scorers, though none of the three were AllBig East Preseason Team selections. Kevin Cernuto led the team with 41 points. Kieran McArdle and Ryan Fitzgerald rounded out the team’s top scorers with 39 and 17 points, respectively.

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 4-10 (2-4) LAST YEAR’S BIG EAST FINISH: FIFTH

RUTGERS

It took the Scarlet Knights until the last game of the season against Providence to win its first conference game. That may serve as a preview of the cellar of the Big East this season. Making things even tougher for Rutgers will be the loss of Gerhard Buehning to graduation. The midfielder was the first-ever Big East Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in 2010 and led the Scarlet Knights with 24 goals last year. Rutgers also loses its top assist man and scorer Justin Pennington. Now RU must look to Kevin Hover, who registered 17 points last season, to take on the scoring load.

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 6-9 (1-5)

LAST YEAR’S BIG EAST FINISH: SIXTH

PROVIDENCE

The Friars were the only winless team in conference last season. Providence looks destined to struggle again, as it has zero players on the All-Big East Preseason Team.

The Friars do return their top three scorers from last season, though. Jake Nolan, Andrew Barton and Sean Wright combined for 37 goals and 34 assists to lead the offense. The biggest question mark for the Friars, though, is the goaltending. Jake Goodelman, who started nine games for Providence last year, graduated. Tyler Himes, who played in just four games, is now the starter to open the season. The sophomore faced just 14 shots last season, but had the highest save percentage on the team.

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 3-12 (0-6)

LAST YEAR’S BIG EAST FINISH: SEVENTH

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ATTACK FROM PAGE 5

FEB. 19 FEB. 26 mAR. 4 mAR. 10 mAR. 17 mAR. 21 mAR. 21 ApR. 1 ApR. 7

ALBANY ARmY AT VIRGINIA AT ST. JOHN’S* AT JOHNS HOpKINS pROVIDENCE* VILLANOVA*

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KONICA mINOLTA BIG CITY CLASSIC VS. DUKE 4:00 p.m. pRINCETON

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AT CORNELL

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ESpNU WARRIOR CLASSIC VS. RUTGERS*

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AT HOBART GEORGETOWN* NOTRE DAmE*

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BOSTON COLLEGE AT VIRGINIA NORTHWESTERN FLORIDA AT mARYLAND TOWSON AT CONNECTICUT* AT HARVARD (at gillette stadium) AT NOTRE DAmE*

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ApR. 7 RUTGERS* ApR. 9 DARTmOUTH ApR. 14 GEORGETOWN* ApR. 17 AT CORNELL ApR. 20 AT LOUISVILLE* ApR. 22 AT CINCINNATI* ApR. 27 LOYOLA* ApR. 29 VILLANOVA* mAY 3 & 5 BIG EAST CHAmpIONSHIp * Denotes Big East Contest

FREE ADMISSION TO ALL HOME GAMES FOR STUDENTS!

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Redshirting was never an option.

“I worked hard every day at practice, and I think that showing it in practice helped me get on the field,” Palasek said. “Coach would not have decided to put me on the field unless he saw it in practice, so I think the first couple of weeks was my defining moment.”

Desko’s injury against Duke proved to be Palasek’s ultimate defining moment. He cracked the starting lineup and gathered steam as the season wore on, giving John Desko all the confidence in what his attack could provide this season.

••• Desko was willing to do whatever it took to breakthrough physically and get back in the Syracuse lineup after he sustained a right knee injury against Duke. He attempted to play the team’s next time out against Princeton, but he simply couldn’t do it.

He spent numerous hours in the training room each day and did everything the staff said to get back in action from that point on.

That moment finally came in the NCAA quarterfinal game against Maryland, but he clearly wasn’t at full strength and contributed little offensively, failing to even register a single shot attempt.

Now, with a long offseason to recover, Desko said he feels back to where he was before the injury.

This season will be his opportunity to pick up where he left off.

“I started in the summer, rehabbing, going from no muscle in my leg to building it all back and just trying to stay in the weight room as much as I can to get strong and prevent injuries,” Desko said. “My mobility is back. Every-

thing is pretty much the same, so I’m ready to get out, and I’m more excited for this year.”

With Keogh, SU’s leading scorer from last season, gone, it’ll be up to both Palasek and Desko to form a cohesive offensive unit. They enter the season as the lone players to log starting minutes at the attack position, aside from Marasco, who will be playing predominantly midfield this season. The sophomore Maltz will join them in the starting lineup.

Senior attack Collin Donahue said the amount of time the offense has already spent together on the practice field has already worked to the team’s advantage. After moments in which players were missing last season, there’s a new sense of continuity this season.

“The more times that we’ve been in practice together, the more times that we look for each other, I think a certain confidence develops,” Donahue said. “When you’re around those players so often you know where they’re going to go, you know what their abilities are.”

Desko and Palasek are motivated for different reasons entering their final seasons.

Palasek is working toward winning his first national championship after transferring from Johns Hopkins. Desko is looking to rebound after his stellar junior campaign was cut short.

But they’ll need to come together to achieve their goal of leading the Orange to a national championship.

“Now that it’s our turn to be those leaders and the guys on the field, it would mean a lot for us, as seniors, to win a championship and go out on top,” Palasek said. “As great as the seniors were last year, I’m sure they would tell you they’d rather go out on top than anything else.” adtredin@syr.edu

sports@ da ilyor a nge.com

2 01 2 l acrosse season pr eview

FACEOFFS FROM PAGE 6

The results of the extra attention in practice and an offseason of work and maturation between Daddio and Buhr’s freshman and sophomore years have yet to take shape on the field. Syracuse’s effort in the faceoff X was futile in many games — 7-of-27 against Duke, 12-of28 against St. John’s, the disappointing effort against Maryland — and the most experienced member of that group is gone.

Donahue would not say there’s a definitive single faceoff specialist for this team. Whoever is winning the faceoffs the most will get the opportunity. And he said he would try a lot of

DEFENSE F R O M P A G E 11

Last year, the struggling defense had an All-American goalkeeper in Liz Hogan to rely on. Hogan led the Big East in save percentage and erased some of the mistakes made by the defenders.

But failure to clear loose balls and poor communication, paired with frequent fouls, led to easy goals for opponents. Hogan specifically noted a 12-8 loss to Georgetown on April 16.

The Orange committed 16 fouls, enabling the Hoyas to collect eight free-position shots, seven of which came in the second half. While the veteran Hogan stopped three of the “eight-meters,” it wasn’t enough.

“We definitely gave up some fouls that we didn’t want to,” Hogan said. “You don’t really want to out a person on eight-meter unless you have to. I think just cleaning up the game, being better on our clears, not having unforced turnovers, really just doing everything that we can control and then hopefully this year things just fall our way.”

This year, the roles are reversed. SU’s most inexperienced position is found between the pipes.

Sophomore Alyssa Costantino, who saw limited action behind Hogan last season, and freshman Kelsey Richardson are locked in a battle for the starting job.

Gait has liked what he’s seen from the duo thus far, and he also sees the benefits of a twogoalie system.

“I think the nice thing is that there’s certainly ebbs and flows in confidence amongst goalies, so when you have just one goalie, if

different people.

Buhr said he thinks he and Daddio will be the primary guys, although in certain situations players like Jenkins will get shots.

Daddio’s excited to get on the field for his sophomore year, if only to have a chance to take the turf without the nerves of an inexperienced freshman.

“I feel like (my confidence) has grown a lot going from last year, where I was nervous before every game,” Daddio said. “And finally getting those under my toes and then just coming into the fall knowing what we were getting into, unlike last year.

“Having that under my belt definitely helps out a lot. I’m definitely a lot more confident.” mcooperj@syr.edu

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running right after that. But he was right, and we learned from that.”

The Scarlet Knights may need some time to adjust to Brecht’s coaching style. But the first-year head coach isn’t holding back to ease the transition. Brecht put together a schedule against some of the best teams in the country with the intent of measuring his program against the best.

In the fall, the Scarlet Knights scrimmaged No. 13 Massachusetts and No. 8 Maryland, two respected lacrosse teams in the country. Though they fell behind early to speedy UMass, Mangan said his team showed flashes of improvement by matching the intensity of

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FROM PAGE 7

they’re a little off, you’re stuck with them,” Gait said. “Having two solid goalies competing every day, it allows you to — if one’s on, you can keep them in there and let them play.

“And if for some reason they’re not mentally on that day, you have a second option, which is nice.”

One way the defense can take some pressure off the young goalies is by eliminating multipleshot possessions and pushing the ball forward immediately after gaining possession.

That active defensive middie role was frequently held by Cammett last season, but Becca Block is expected to fill that void while Cammett plays close defender this year. Block, who started all 18 games for SU last season and was second on the team in draw controls with 28, has excelled with the job in training camp thus far.

“She’s just all over the field,” Cammett said. “Whenever she gets (the ball), she’s going straight into the midfield. I don’t know a specific time, but she’s just getting interceptions all over the place and carrying it like she’s a newborn attacker.”

Last year, Stegeland said, the team sometimes got ahead of itself rather than focusing on the task at hand.

This year, for SU to compete for a Big East title and look to make its mark in the NCAA tournament, the defense will need to maintain that intensity throughout the season.

“In the past, we’ve kind of looked at the big picture, and I think that’s definitely inevitable,” Stegeland said. “We’ll always be looking at, obviously, a national championship, a Big East championship, but right now we’re going to take it game by game.”

SCHEDULES

Feb. 21 Boston College Feb. 26 @Virginia Feb. 29 Northwestern March 3 @Florida March 10 @Maryland March 13 Towson March 24 @Connecticut March 31 Harvard in Foxborough, Mass.

April 5 @Notre Dame April 7 Rutgers April 9 Dartmouth April 14 Georgetown April 17 @Cornell April 20 @Louisville April 22 @Cincinnati April 27 Loyola April 29 Villanova

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15

the Terrapins.

“It was a good measure of where we need to be,” Mangan said of that scrimmage with Maryland.

Brecht knows Rutgers still has a long road ahead before it begins achieving his lofty postseason goals. But as he was at Siena, the head coach is staying positive about his first season at the helm.

Brecht knows the Scarlet Knights have the talent to compete with elite teams. Now, they just have to put it all together to help Brecht begin the rebuilding process and put Rutgers back on the map.

“We have the pieces here, there’s no question about that,” Brecht said. “I’m excited to see how they all mesh together.” nctoney@syr.edu

16 2 0 1 2 l a c r o s s e s e a s o n p r e v i e w

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BEAT WRITER PREDICTIONS

Regular-season record: 10-4 Big East finish: 6-0 NCAA tournament finish: quarterfinals Yes, it’s true Syracuse lost seven All-Americans. And yes, the entire first midfield line may be gone. But what needs to be taken into consideration is that the players stepping into those roles are still some of the best in the country. At one point, the departed senior class was a group of newcomers, too, with uncertain expectations. Now, the players who spent considerable time on the sidelines because there simply wasn’t any room on the field are finally getting their chance. SU has talent on both ends of the Regular-season record: 9-5 Big East finish: 5-1 NCAA tournament finish: quarterfinals With a completely new team after the loss of seven All-Americans, Syracuse will be challenged to pile up wins as it has in the past.

And the transition for the Orange is even tougher considering it faces the top four teams in the nation in a brutal schedule. SU plays defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Virginia, No. 3 Johns Hopkins and No. 4 Cornell on the road. The team’s inexperience could hurt the Orange against that elite competition. Considering last season’s group,

ANDREW TREDINNICK

b o o k s t o r e . s y r. e d u

Regular-Season record: 11-3 Big East Finish: 5-1 NCAA tournament finish: final four There are sure to be some bumps along the way with the loss of seven starters, but the returners are still talented, and the unproven players are just as capable. Syracuse is simply turning a new leaf. The Orange returns offensive juggernauts Tim Desko, Tommy Palasek and JoJo Marasco, who should outweigh any deficiencies along the learning curve at other positions. Fueled by a No. 7 ranking in the preseason polls, SU’s newcomers are chomp-

ing at the bit to prove what they’re made of.

Expect this team to hit its stride at the appropriate time and brand its own identity by the end of the season.

CHRIS ISEMAN

2 for U

field, so much so that going undefeated in the Big East again is a very likely possibility.

As one of the top lacrosse programs in the country, Syracuse doesn’t lose top players without replacing them with more of similar, or even better, caliber.

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which started the season No. 1 and rolled through the regular season with a 14-1 record, fell in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, it’s hard to see this unheralded Syracuse squad breaking through to reach the final four.

*See store for details.

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2/10/2012 11:37:41 AM