Syracuse benefitting from multi-faceted attack
John Desko has talked about it after a couple of Syracuse’s games this year. The Orange simply has too many weapons for opponents to completely shut down SU’s offense.
In Syracuse’s 20-6 win over Villanova Monday, 13 different players scored a goal for the No. 3 Orange. And despite the numbers from Monday, the Wildcats are no slouch on the defensive end. Heading into the day, No. 15 Villanova ranked 11th in the country in scoring defense with an 8.4 goals-against average.
But the Wildcats just could not stick with all of SU’s options.
‘Every offensive guy on our team can finish and score,’ freshman midfielder JoJo Marasco said in the postgame press conference. ‘They were all big scorers in high school and now they’re here.’
Marasco has been hot as of late (eight points in the last two games) and is just one of the new faces that opponents have to deal with this year. Onondaga Community College transfer Jeremy Thompson creates instant offense from the faceoff X and has 10 goals this season.
And then there are the usual suspects. Stephen Keogh led the team in goals last year and has continued that reign this season with 19 scores. Senior Cody Jamieson, last year’s championship game hero, may be the most creative scorer. His 11 goals include a behind-the-back tally against Villanova and a one-handed, between-the-legs score against Johns Hopkins.
But neither of them leads the team in scoring — that belongs to senior midfielder Chris Daniello, who has 12 goals and 12 assists this season.
It makes it even more difficult for opposing teams to defend considering Syracuse’s fast-paced transition attack.
‘As long as I’ve seen Syracuse lacrosse play, that’s one of the things we’ve been known for,’ Desko said after Syracuse’s win against Georgetown. ‘We try to push transition and try to get unsettled situations.’
The Orange has had at least six players score in every game this year except one — SU’s 9-8 win against Hobart March 23 — the least goals Syracuse has scored in a game this season. And even against the Statesmen, five different players netted scores for the Orange.
Said Marasco: ‘Literally, we don’t mind who shoots the ball because we know each one of them has a very good chance of scoring.’
Bright and early
For JoJo Marasco, just nine months removed from Somers (N.Y.) High School’s graduation, high school mentality resurfaced for Syracuse’s game against Villanova on Monday.
When he looked at the calendar and saw the 3 p.m. start, it all came back to him.
‘It kind of feels like a high school game,’ Marasco said. ‘Because that’s how it was (in high school).’
There wasn’t much unusual about SU’s victory over Villanova on the surface Monday. The Orange has beaten the Wildcats by nearly identical 21-6 and 20-6 scores the last two times the teams have played.
But there was one rarity — that atypical afternoon weekday start time. And players noticed the strange game time leading up to the start.
‘It is different,’ SU junior goaltender John Galloway said. ‘We’re definitely not used to playing on a Monday, or a weekday for that matter. We usually play on Saturdays or, occasionally, Tuesday night games. But to play Monday afternoon, it’s a different element.’
Perhaps even Galloway didn’t know just how different the start time was. The last time before this week that the Orange has played a regular-season Monday game was March 10, 2003, against Fairfield.
Still, Galloway didn’t think there would be much of a difference. The team usually practices either at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m.
‘The good thing is that we usually practice around 3 or 4 o’clock,’ Galloway said. ‘We practice around the same time we’re going to play, so I think that might help us.’
And there was an added bonus for Marasco. But for the freshman, it had nothing to do with lacrosse.
Said Marasco: ‘We get a little break from classes, and we get to get out there and play.’
