MLAX : Palasek named tournament’s most outstanding player; Orange takes advantage of man-up chances
VILLANOVA, Pa. – Tommy Palasek was named the Big East championship’s Most Outstanding Player after combining to score four goals and dish out seven assists in Syracuse’s two games this weekend.
The senior attack played the role of quarterback, leading a potent and balanced attack for the Orange against Villanova and St. John’s. Following the game, Palasek was modest about his success during the tournament.
‘It’s not me, it’s our whole offense,’ Palasek said. ‘Even Villanova from the start of this whole tournament, we’ve been moving well. Coach said we execute better than we have all year and that’s just allows me to do my thing out there.’
Palasek led a resurgence on offense for the Orange throughout the tournament. During SU’s 15-6 win over Villanova on Thursday, Palasek scored one goal and dished out three assists with midfielders Bobby Eilers and Matt Walters as the beneficiaries. He capped off his exceptional tournament with three goals and three assists against the Red Storm, playing a role in SU’s first four goals as it jumped out to an early 4-0 lead against St. John’s. The Orange went on to defeat the Red Storm 12-4 in the Big East tournament title game.
The offense came alive in a big way during the team’s two contests. It was the second and fourth-most goals the team has scored all season against the Wildcats and Red Storm, respectively.
Eilers credited that to a renewed patience on offense. Syracuse never trailed in either game and as a result, the Orange were able to control the pace of the game and work to get the ball to the open man.
And that’s where Palasek thrives. He often threaded the needle into tight gaps to an open player and other times he kept the defense honest by cutting in from behind the net.
Syracuse benefitted from Palasek’s play in the attacking zone. And SU’s endurance on offense led to two of its best offensive performances all season.
‘We’ve been forcing shots, so I guess we haven’t been as accurate,’ Eilers said,’but when you work the ball and find the open shot then you have open lanes to shoot and you become more accurate.’
Syracuse capitalizes on extra-man opportunities
St. John’s head coach Jason Miller mentioned his team’s costly penalties briefly while putting Syracuse’s 12-4 victory over the Red Storm into perspective.
The Orange outplayed St. John’s in every area of the game. SU took more shots, won more faceoffs and picked up more ground balls while shutting down its attack.
And penalties didn’t help the Red Storm’s chances against a Syracuse team playing its best lacrosse of the season.
‘Let’s be real clear we didn’t lose today because of the penalty situation but it certainly hurt us more momentum-wise and tempo-wide and getting into any kind of good rhythm in terms of being able to play well,’ Miller said. ‘We felt like we were scrambling around for a good percentage of the first half.’
St. John’s was called for seven penalties in the contest, leading to easy chances for the Syracuse offense. And the Orange capitalized, going 5-of-6 on extra-man opportunities to fuel a second straight offensive outburst at the Big East tournament.
After St. John’s was whistled for the first penalty of the game, Eilers connected from straightaway on a low, bouncing shot past goaltender Jeff Lowman to put Syracuse up 2-0. Derek Maltz added another on the man-up just over a minute later and the Orange was starting to take control.
Luke Cometti came out of the break on the man-up and finished a wide-open chance along the crease to push the Orange advantage to 8-0 just seven seconds into the half. The Orange cruised from there and added two more man-up goals to complete its 12-goal explosion in the fourth quarter.
For head coach John Desko, his team’s efficiency on the man-up was just another sign of its growth from a mediocre regular season to a stellar two-game performance to take the Big East tournament championship.
‘We’ve improved in certain aspects of our game,’ Desko said. ‘I think we’re more confident in our faceoffs, the man-up has definitely improved in the last third, half of the season here and offensively I think it just helps.’
