SU vs. Georgetown rivalry spills into new conference; Lade comfortable in return
Syracuse’s win against Georgetown marked the first Big East conference game in Orange history. And any time the Orange and Hoyas get together, people tend to pay attention.
‘You could have Georgetown playing Syracuse in pinochle halfway down Route 81 and get a lot of people interested in what’s going on,’ Georgetown head coach Dave Urick said.
Syracuse players and coaches have said throughout the year that they aren’t really sure that being in the Big East means much this year, especially without an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the conference winner.
But Urick believes that it’s good to have Syracuse and Georgetown playing each other in a conference setting.
‘I think the Big East having lacrosse now is a very good thing,’ he said. ‘…I think it helps the sport. A conference like the Big East, which is a nationally recognized conference, has the sport of lacrosse. And I suspect that Notre Dame, Georgetown, Syracuse and others will make a good accounting of themselves.’
Lade feels good in return
After spending the first three games on the sideline, junior defenseman John Lade returned to the offense against the Hoyas. He warmed up against Virginia, but did not feel it was ready to go.
And his first game of the season was anything but a gradual comeback.
He spent most of the day shadowing Hoya leading scorer Craig Dowd, holding him scoreless. And when he was not checking Dowd, Lade got his fair share of time on Ryan Shuler, who provided much of the Hoya offense on the day with two goals.
Though the Hoyas offense started slow, they unleashed for 22 second half shots and had four man-up opportunities over the final 30 minutes. Tough defense was key for the Orange in a second half where offense was hard to come by.
‘The offense did a great job all game keeping us in it and then the defense really played well too,’ said Lade.
With 12:45 remaining in the game the Hoyas trailed 11-7, but a Stephen Keogh penalty put the Hoyas in a man advantage situation. Georgetown set up their offense and passed the ball around behind the net. Lade stepped in, intercepted the pass and gave it up to John Galloway who cleared the ball to Joel White.
Lade certainly did not look like he had nursed a thigh injury for three games. And he didn’t feel like it either.
‘I felt great out there,’ Lade said. ‘I love playing with these guys and it just felt great to play with them again.’
Transition Game
A little more than five minutes into the second quarter, junior midfielder Tim Harder turned a Georgetown turnover into instant offense.
He poked the ball out of a Hoya stick, picked it up and took off down the middle of the field. He dished it off to Josh Amidon, who found Stephen Keogh at the left hash about 10 yards from the cage.
Keogh, who had four goals already on the day, had enough room to wind up and rip a shot into the top corner of the goal, putting Syracuse up 8-4.
Many of the Orange’s scores came on transition opportunities or other unsettled situations. For head coach John Desko, that doesn’t come as a surprise.
‘I think as long as I’ve seen Syracuse lacrosse play, that’s one of the things that we’re known for,’ he said. ‘We try to push transition and we try to get unsettled situations. …I think that’s what Syracuse is known for.’
SU got out on the break whenever it had the opportunity. Faceoff wins turned into quick scores and Georgetown mistakes led directly to Orange goals.
After a sloppy third quarter that was largely controlled by the Hoyas, Syracuse stole away the momentum with a quick score of the faceoff.
Longstick midfielder Joel White picked up the loose ball and rolled it to junior Jeremy Thompson. Thompson found Amidon in the middle of the field and he fired a shot into the back of the net. All that only ten seconds into the fourth.
‘That’s what our team’s good at,’ Amidon said. ‘We just capitalized on it.’
