The upperclassmen grabbed sticks. The freshmen grabbed shovels.

Before Wednesday’s Syracuse men’s lacrosse practice at Coyne Field — the Orangemen’s second-straight day outside — freshmen Brett Bucktooth, Jon Bone and John Wright pushed piles of snow off the turf.

Heading into Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. regular-season opener at Army’s Michie Stadium, the Orangemen have had limited outdoor, full-field practice opportunities — hence Wednesday’s frenzied effort to clear the whole field.

“We always get short-changed at the beginning of the year,” attackman Liam Banks said.

And the Orangemen could get tripped up playing on Michie Stadium’s synthetic grass surface.

SU head coach John Desko said few Orangemen have played on the AstroPlay surface, which is similar to the springy FieldTurf used by the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and MLB’s Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

SU midfielder Brett Walther said he’s played on a similar surface in Pennsylvania, near his hometown of Ardmore.

“It’s real hard to get a feel of,” said Walther, who plans to bring at least two pairs of sneakers — one with short cleats, one with long cleats.

Except for extra preparation for the turf, most Orangemen seem bored with a month of practices and two scrimmages, against Navy and Maryland.

“We’re sick of playing against our own guys,” Banks said. “We’re ready to go hack up some other guys.”

Perhaps not. Desko said Banks is doubtful for Saturday with a right shoulder injury. Banks suffered the injury Feb. 8 against Navy. Though Banks said Wednesday he’s 60 percent, he could barely lift his right arm during warm-up drills. Banks, who returned to practice last Friday, wore extra padding on his shoulder Wednesday.

Banks sat out SU’s scrimmage against Maryland last Thursday.

“He may feel like (he’s ready to go),” Desko said. “But he doesn’t look like it. He can’t get anything on the ball. You’d hate for (the shoulder) to take a good whack and for him to have to start (recovering) all over again.”

Redshirt-freshman midfielder Drew Bucktooth is also doubtful for Saturday. Desko said Bucktooth may have a stress fracture in his right leg or ankle. Last Wednesday, Bucktooth said he scheduled a bone scan on his leg. Bucktooth has had his leg examined several times, Desko said. Bucktooth did not dress for practice Wednesday, wearing warm-ups and a hefty boot-like brace on his right foot.

“He’s been limping a lot,” Desko said.

Last year, the Orangemen stomped Army, 18-11, in the Carrier Dome. The Black Knights lost two key players from last season’s team — three-year starting goaltender Dominik Nogic and all-time leading scorer Tim Pearson, a three-time All-American.

Three goalies will compete for Army’s starting job, a situation SU dealt with last year. Army’s eldest candidates — senior Scott Alpaugh and junior Tom LeRoux — combine for eight career games.

The Black Knights’ top returning scorers — Jeff Bryan and Mike Kamon — had 45 and 20 points last year, respectively.

Desko admitted he’s not familiar with the Black Knights. On Wednesday, he referred to a sheet of numbers and names while discussing Army’s key players.

“Obviously, when you haven’t seen a team and haven’t looked at much tape,” Desko said, “you’re going in kind of cold.”

Published on February 20, 2003 at 12:00 pm