The preseason accolades just keep piling up for the defending national champions.

The Syracuse men’s lacrosse team was a unanimous selection to win the Big East by the conference’s coaches on Jan. 28. Six SU players were selected to the All-Big East preseason team. And on Feb. 1, the nation’s two premier lacrosse polls, the Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll and the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association coaches’ poll, both ranked Syracuse the No. 1 team in their preseason editions.

But head coach John Desko is not ready to buy into the hype just yet.

‘It’s either a popularity contest or I’m not sure what it is,’ Desko said of the No. 1 ranking. ‘I think a lot of times, coaches or people that do the polling look at who walked off the field with the gold trophy last year.

‘It’s quite a statement to make us No. 1 with the amount of graduation we had at all ends of the field … I guess it’s a compliment to be No. 1 at this stage of the game, but I think we all know it’s what you are at the end of the year that really matters.’

The ranking comes despite losing 11 seniors from last year’s national championship team. Graduates include Kenny Nims, Dan Hardy and Pat Perritt, who made up three of SU’s top four scorers from last year.

Matt Abbott and Sid Smith are also gone. Their departures leave SU without last season’s most reliable clearer, in Abbott, and defensive leader, in Smith.

Desko said in January that the team has the talent to be great, but only time will tell when that will happen.

Junior Stephen Keogh, the Big East Preseason Attack Player of the Year, said that despite all the players missing from last year’s team, the early ranking doesn’t surprise him.

‘No, we’re Syracuse,’ he said. ‘We’re always going to be up top. We’ve got a lot of good players, a lot of people ready to step up.’

Joining Keogh on the All-Big East Preseason Team as at-large selections are junior Josh Amidon, senior Cody Jamieson and junior John Lade. Coaches also selected Joel White as the preseason team’s longstick midfielder and Jovan Miller as the specialty player.

Lade said the preseason awards served as a great honor. But he knows that No. 1 ranking could be dangerous. It puts a lot more pressure on a young Syracuse squad that will already have opponents gunning to take out the defending national champions.

‘It means that we have a big bull’s-eye on our back,’ Lade said. ‘People are going to be coming for us. We’re going to have to come out ready to run it here so we can get going because people are going to be coming after us soon and fast.’

Desko to focus on midfield play in scrimmage

Syracuse will finally see its first live action this year when Le Moyne and Hofstra visit the Carrier Dome for an exhibition game on Sunday at noon.

Desko wants to see who steps up when SU finally plays against someone not wearing orange uniforms.

‘We’ve gone against each other for a number of practices now,’ he said. ‘Any time you get in a game situation, you have players step up or take a step back, so it’s going to be great to see the guys go against another team.’

The head coach will look closest at his midfield. Six middies graduated after the national championship last year. Desko said he feels pretty comfortable with the defensive situation, and much of his focus will be in the middle of the field.

Players looking to fill in for those seniors include returning veterans Jeff Gilbert and Josh Amidon, as well as inexperienced youngsters JoJo Marasco and Steve Ianzito, among others.

‘Really it’s just a matter of, especially in the middle of the field, it’s a matter of reps,’ Desko said. ‘There are two things. You need a lot of practice, and you need game experience. I can’t give them game experience. We’ve got to do that with our scrimmages and regular games.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on February 2, 2010 at 12:00 pm