MLAX : Syracuse dominated by Virginia in faceoff X; Drew plays for 1st time this season
It was the type of play that doomed Syracuse all day.
Virginia midfielder Ryan Benincasa won the faceoff and rushed out in transition. UVa attack Owen Van Arsdale caught the ball on the attacking line, drew the defender and fed the ball to Mark Cockerton, who had an open lane and fired a shot past SU goaltender Matt Lerman.
Another opportunity for Virginia. Another goal.
‘It was a grave concern going into the game in terms of how the faceoff piece was going to play out,’ Virginia head coach Dom Starsia said. ‘I think it may have been the singular difference in the game. I think the additional possessions that we got, there was no way you would have predicted that was going to work like that going into the game.’
Virginia dominated the faceoff X throughout the game, holding a 20-of-28 advantage over the Orange during the course of the game. Syracuse midfielder Chris Daddio entered the game with a remarkable 25-of-37 (67.6 percent) faceoff rate, but went just 4-of-15 Sunday. Benincasa was impressive for Virginia, taking all of his team’s faceoffs.
The Cavaliers capitalized on their opportunities and beat the Orange in transition off the faceoff several times.
Although Daddio was able to control the trajectory of the ball on many of the draws, Syracuse defender Brian Megill said he felt the team simply struggled to corral the ground balls in those situations.
And with the struggles at the X, Virginia controlled possession for much of the game and took care of the Orange on offense.
‘It was popping out and their wings, I think they outhustled our wings a little bit, and that’s another thing we’re going to work on in film — work on groundballs, work on boxing out a little bit better,’ Megill said. ‘Virginia is a tough team, they hustle a lot and props to them.’
Drew makes season debut after suspension
Syracuse midfielder Kevin Drew returned to the field Sunday in the Orange’s 14-10 loss to No. 1 Virginia. Drew had been suspended indefinitely after an arrest for driving while intoxicated in the fall.
Drew started the game, playing at one of the wings during the opening faceoff and seeing significant minutes for the rest of the game.
‘I thought he did good,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘There were some things that you could tell he was rusty on. He was out there quite a bit during the game. We relied on him to cover people and start some transition for us, wing on the faceoffs.’
Drew received a harsh welcome back to the field early in the game when Cavaliers midfielder Matt White beat Drew and put the ball past SU goaltender Matt Lerman.
Drew rejoined the team at the start of spring practice, but he was held out of Syracuse’s first two games against Albany and Army.
On Sunday, he took two shots and scooped up a ground ball.
‘We asked a lot from him. He’s definitely not in midseason form,’ Desko said, ‘but he still did a lot of very good things for the team today.’
Change in expectations for Syracuse
When Syracuse played Virginia, one year ago to the day, it had the winningest class in college lacrosse history. The Orange had every reason to expect to beat the Cavaliers, and it did so in the Carrier Dome, 12-10.
This season, seven starters are gone. Dotting SU’s 2012 roster are players who are finally getting their chance. And on Sunday, it was evident just how different Syracuse’s expectations are from last season. While SU certainly believed it had a shot against UVa, the Orange was the underdog.
‘I think to have the experience these guys got today,’ Desko said. ‘More than half the group had never been on this field today. To be here to have that experience, to be on the road and play the tempo that we played, … I think we’re getting better, and we played a very good lacrosse team today.’
Despite the loss, midfielder Bobby Eilers said this type of game — in which SU played Virginia virtually down to the wire — can give the team’s younger players plenty of confidence for the rest of the season.
‘Just fuel for the fire,’ Eilers said. ‘We came out and played with the No. 1 team in the country. We have a lot of new guys. They have a lot of returning players.’
