Amidon emerging for No. 2 Syracuse heading into Binghamton game
Josh Amidon didn’t want to take all the credit for his team-leading offensive performance against Johns Hopkins on Saturday. Despite pacing the Orange with three goals in the 14-11 triumph, the Syracuse men’s lacrosse sophomore said he was the ‘lucky guy’ that day.
‘It could’ve happened to anybody,’ Amidon said. ‘I just found the ball at the right time in the open space and that’s what happens in our offense. Everybody gets chances.’
Thankfully for the Orange, Amidon has been taking advantage of his chances – and has emerged as a leading scorer for Syracuse this season. Amidon has the third-most goals for SU with eight and is fourth on the team with 10 points. No. 2 Syracuse hosts Binghamton at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
‘I never felt it would happen this year,’ Amidon said. ‘With my hard work and the team’s hard work and coming together, I never really thought I would be at this point. But my teammates help me out because they push me that much more.’
Amidon saw action in all 18 contests last season, but only scored five goals and had one assist. With such a stingy midfield last season, playing time was hard to come across for the freshman product out of Lafayette high school.
Still, in that time, Amidon learned from the veterans ahead of him not to rush it, and just let the game come to him. By rushing things, it could lead to turnovers, and playing at a comfortable pace will help him and his teammates.
In the offseason, he benefited from his time the U-19 National Team that won the Gold Medal. It helped him by playing against stiff competition, and he scored goals against Australia, England and Canada in the championship game as well.
‘It helped me out a lot playing with these top D-1 guys and just my confidence that was the biggest things against this tough competition and tough games like Canada,’ Amidon said. ‘Just coming out on top and knowing what to do in tough situations like that.’
With such success in the summer, the results have already translated onto the field for Amidon. In just five games, he has already surpassed his mark from last season. Amidon said he is finding the gaps better and just sees the field better. This allows him to find the open man for assists or find the best location for his shot.
He has also become more aggressive on the offensive end. Last season, he primarily focused on the defensive aspect of the midfield, where assistant coach Roy Simmons III said in comparison to Matt Abbott, that Amidon, ‘He’s actually, maybe, a better defender. Josh, physically, is stronger. He probably gets after it a little bit more than Matt does.’
But Simmons said he still wanted to see more offensive output from Amidon and start seeing more shots (which Amidon said was clocked at 97 miles per hour at Laxapalooza.)
Head coach John Desko said Amidon benefits from being such a good athlete and being able to play the offensive and defensive ends of the midfield well, which came from his grooming in high school.
While some players in high school have large enough talent pools to specifically coach midfielders to be offensive or defensive gurus, Amidon did not have that luxury and had to be a two-way midfielder.
‘He’s a very coachable athlete and has good physical size,’ Desko said. ‘We’ve asked him to play a lot of defense and a lot of offense in the past and a little more offensively and it’s nice. He can be a two-way middie and really shoot the ball well from the outside and I think we’re going to have to look at him a little more in the man up.’
His teammates have noticed the change in him as well. Abbott, one of the top midfielders in the nation, said Amidon’s confidence has risen and the playing time increase has helped him on the field.
It has all led to a strong start to the season for Amidon and the Orange. While he might not be able to replace the production from a Brendan Loftus or Steven Brooks, he can aspire to be like them. And with the production the Orange is seeing offensively from Amidon in his second year, it may not be too long before he comes close.
‘I’m going to try to get better,’ Amidon said. ‘And each offseason, that’s when I’m going to work my hardest to try to get like a Steven Brooks or Brendan Loftus.’
