EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As Syracuse began to flood onto the field to celebrate its 13-4 victory over Princeton Saturday, SU head coach John Desko looked out onto the field. A grin flashed across his face.

Desko said before the first practice of the 2010 season that it wasn’t a matter of if this Orange team could be great. No, it was a matter of when.

 

And with a performance like Saturday’s win over the No. 4 Tigers, it appears Desko likes what he sees.

‘I think that it’s been a work in progress, trying to figure out who we are,’ he said. ‘… I just feel good being able to beat a team like (Princeton) like we did today.’

SU (8-1, 2-0 Big East) defeated the No. 4 Tigers 13-4 Saturday at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic in front of 25,710 people to open up New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford N.J. The crowd set the regular season attendance record for a lacrosse only event. The No. 3 Orange controlled play for most of the game, holding Princeton scoreless in the first and third quarters.

Tigers head coach Chris Bates said his team’s problems stemmed not only from the Tigers offensive struggles but also from their overall lack of possession.

‘We didn’t have the ball very often,’ he said. ‘So if you look at the possessions, I don’t think we had the ball very much at all. When we did, I thought their goalie played well. We never had multiple shot possessions, got ourselves feeling good.’

After the Orange defense held Princeton scoreless in the first quarter, the Tigers looked like they could work themselves back into the game. Freshman midfielder Mike Chanenchuk ripped a shot into the net to pull Princeton within a score.

But then Jeremy Thompson took over.

The junior transfer from Onondaga Community College won the ensuing faceoff and took off down the middle. As he entered the box, he found senior attack Cody Jamieson on the left side of the net for a goal just six seconds after the Princeton tally, giving SU a 4-2 edge.

Thompson again won the next faceoff, this time aided by a big hit from junior Jovan Miller, and carried it into the offensive zone. As the Tigers came to him, he dished it to Jamieson in the middle of the field. The senior spun from a defender and found a wide-open Tim Desko on top of the crease.

Desko buried the shot after a quick pump fake. Just 19 seconds after Princeton had pulled within one goal, the Orange lead ballooned back to 5-2.

‘It seems like I get it every game at least once,’ Thompson said of the quick strikes after his faceoff wins. ‘… You know, fast-break situations, we get something off it.’

And with those two quick goals, the Orange put a stranglehold on the momentum for the rest of the game. Princeton didn’t score again until the 8:13 mark in the fourth quarter — more than 30 minutes after Chanenchuk’s goal.

SU flexed its offensive muscle in that stretch, jumping out to a 12-2 lead behind four goals from Jamieson. Some of its possessions lasted for three to four minutes at a time and most of them resulted in scores.

Even when the Tigers did have the ball, they couldn’t solve the Syracuse defense. The attack and middies were hassled all night by the Orange defenders. Princeton had to work to get space for any opportunities and forced most of their shots from bad angles.

‘We never got in any kind of rhythm anywhere on the field really,’ Bates said. ‘They faced off well. They played great between the lines. … Not having the ball offensively, we took some low percentage shots and really didn’t get any kind of rhythm offensively and you’re not going to beat Syracuse like that.’

By the fourth quarter, Desko started rotating in some of the Orange’s lesser-used players and starting goalie John Galloway, who made 11 saves, left with 9:13 left.

Said Desko: ‘I thought we played 60 minutes of lacrosse tonight and I was pretty happy with the performance.’

 

zjbrown@syr.edu

 

Published on April 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm