Jenkinson emerges as unlikely faceoff leader for Syracuse lacrosse
John Desko stopped himself mid-sentence. The Syracuse men’s lacrosse head coach had just called faceoff specialist Gavin Jenkinson a senior, but he paused to ask an SU Athletics official Jenkinson’s class standing.
He’s a junior, the official informed Desko.
‘Shows you how much I know,’ Desko said with a laugh. ‘That’s how much we’ve played him in the past.’
But that was the past. Despite not knowing his year, Desko has no hesitation playing the junior at the faceoff anymore, after Jenkinson’s recent triumphs.
After barely getting any attempts in the X at the beginning of the season, and in his first two years, Jenkinson leads the team in faceoff winning percentage with a 65.4 percent mark. He will try and continue his recent success when No. 2 Syracuse takes on No. 5 Princeton Saturday (2:30 p.m., ESPNU) in the Big City Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
‘He has a lot of experience, he’s been with Danny Brennan quite a bit last year,’ Desko said. ‘One of the things in watching the film, I thought he did a pretty good job of countering the guy last week against Loyola who had good percentages. He stuck with it.’
Heading into last weekend’s contest against Loyola, Jenkinson had 25 career attempts inside the X, with 15 of those coming this season.
Against Loyola, that all changed. With Syracuse trailing by as many as four goals, Desko employed Jenkinson for 11 faceoffs, of which the junior won 10. In the fourth quarter, Jenkinson won eight of nine faceoffs, including the last seven. Syracuse used those extra possessions to come back from a 12-8 deficit and win the contest, 14-13.
‘After the game, I didn’t realize I had did that well, but it was some good wing play, and it worked out well,’ Jenkinson said. ‘We were all just trying to rally back, and they were all very supportive, and they were like, ‘If Gavin’s stepping up, we should all step up.’ I won the faceoffs, but they were the one putting it in the back of the net.’
Coming into the season, though, it didn’t seem if there would be time for Jenkinson at the X. Jake Moulton was the favorite to take a preponderance of the reps, but he was lost to a season-ending injury. Josh Knight then stepped into the role, but he also fell victim to an injury.
This created a chance for Jenkinson, who has excelled since. He lost his first three on the year but won 3-of-7 against Binghamton, and followed that up with a 4-of-5 performance against Hobart. Jenkinson said the Binghamton game allowed him to ‘get (his) feet wet.’
Jenkinson said working with Brennan, last year’s faceoff specialist, aided him, as he saw the type of technique Brennan used to be successful. He’s also benefited from being able to consistently play this year. In the past, he rarely had chances at the faceoff and said it’s difficult for a player to just run out there cold. With more chances in the games, he’s found his groove this season.
‘Basically getting opportunity out there and to get a couple under your belt, and it helps you get more confident,’ Jenkinson said. ‘And once you’re out there in the fourth quarter, you’re not that nervous knowing you’ve beaten the guy consistently.’
Sophomore midfielder Jovan Miller said he is not surprised to see Jenkinson emerge this season, but he thinks that Jenkinson might have actually surprised himself in the process.
‘I think the whole time he’s been waiting for his opportunity, and I definitely respect that,’ Miller said. ‘He kind of surprised himself with how he stepped up, and I think he should definitely have more incentive to be out there and want to be that man since he did a great job.’
The chance to be the man will definitely present itself this weekend as the Orange takes to Giants Stadium for the Faceoff Classic, an event that has sold over 20,000 tickets so far.
It has yet to be seen if Desko will allot the most attempts in the X to Jenkinson, but the coach at least is cognizant of the success Jenkinson is having recently – even if he might be foggy on Jenkinson’s class standing.
‘Gavin had done pretty well in practice recently,’ Desko said. ‘He’ll have those spurts in practice where he matches up against certain guys pretty well, and he did well enough and he’s going to get opportunities in the future. He’s going to play.’
