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

Desko said before the first practice this season that it wasn’t a matter of if this Orange team could be great — it was a matter of when.

And with a performance like Saturday’s win over the Tigers, Desko appears to like 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.’

In front of an NCAA regular-season record crowd of 25,710, Syracuse (8-1, 2-0 Big East) defeated the No. 4 Tigers, 13-4, Saturday at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic to open up New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The No. 3 Orange controlled the pace for much of the game, holding Princeton (7-2, 3-0 Ivy League) scoreless in the first and third quarters and allowing just four goals to the Tigers — a season low for an SU opponent.

For Princeton head coach Chris Bates, his team’s problems stemmed not only from his team’s offensive struggles, but also from its overall lack of possession. Ultimately, Princeton‘s offense couldn’t generate enough opportunities throughout the game.

‘We didn’t have the ball very often,’ Bates 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 five and a half minutes into the second quarter.

But then Jeremy Thompson took over.

The junior transfer from Onondaga Community College won the ensuing faceoff and took off down the middle of the field. 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 to give SU a 4-2 lead.

Thompson then 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 charged toward him, he dished it to Jamieson in the middle of the field. The senior spun away from a defender and found a wide-open Tim Desko at the top of the crease.

Desko buried the shot after a quick pump fake, and just 19 seconds after Princeton had pulled within one goal, the Orange lead increased 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.’

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 — 31 minutes and 30 seconds after Chanenchuk’s goal.

SU flexed its offensive muscles during that stretch, jumping out to a 12-2 lead behind a career-high five points from Jamieson. Some of its possessions lasted for three to four minutes at a time, and many of them resulted in scores.

Even when the Tigers did have the ball, they couldn’t solve the Syracuse defense. Orange defenders hassled their marks all night. Princeton had to work to get space for any opportunities and forced most of its 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 and allowed only one goal, headed to the sidelines with 9:13 left.

And at game’s end, as Galloway and the rest of the Orange stormed the field, the head coach couldn’t help but smile.

‘I thought we played 60 minutes of lacrosse tonight,’ Desko said. ‘And I was pretty happy with the performance.’

 

zjbrown@syr.edu

 

Published on April 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm