Men's Lacrosse Travels to Amherst, MA to Take on #8 Massachusetts
4/28/2001 10:19:58 AM | Men's Lacrosse
The Orangemen, winners of four-straight, will battle No. 8-ranked Massachusetts this Saturday. The Minutemen were the only undefeated team left in NCAA Division I until last weekend when Georgetown beat them, 13-12, in Amherst. UMass had won 10-straight games prior to the loss. Syracuse plays the Hoyas on May 5.
This will mark the 27th meeting between SU and Massachusetts. The Orangemen have won the last 20 meetings, including last season's 17-7 victory at the Carrier Dome. The last time the Minutemen defeated Syracuse was May 8, 1981 in Amherst. The score was 12-8.
ON THE AIR
Radio
SU's games are broadcast on the school's flagship radio station for lacrosse, WFBL 1050 AM. Carter Blackburn handles play-by-play duties, while Syracuse equipment manager Kyle Fetterly serves as the color analyst. The broadcast can also be picked up through www.suathletics.com.
WAER FM 88 has continued its long-standing tradition of broadcasting the games.
Television
Time Warner 13 broadcasted all but one of SU's eight home games this season. The games were aired on a tape delay basis. Ted DeLuca was the play-by-play man, while Dale Drypolcher provided color analysis.
SU's May 5th game at Georgetown will be televised on a tape-delay basis and aired on the Empire Sports Network, MSG, Comcast SportsNet (Philadelphia), Home Team Sports and CSS. Check local listings for times.
Orangemen on the Road
SU owns a 2-1 record in games played away from the Carrier Dome this season. Last year, the Orangemen finished the regular season 7-1 on the road and the year before that they were 3-3. Since he took over as head coach in 1999, Coach Desko's teams are a combined 12-5 on the road during the regular season, compared to 17-2 at home.
Syracuse Against Ranked Teams
This season the Orangemen are 5-2 against ranked opponents. They are 2-2 against teams ranked in the top ten. Syracuse defeated then No. 3-ranked Virginia on March 3 (13-7) and No. 1-ranked Princeton (14-8) on March 24. Johns Hopkins, ranked ninth at the time, handed the Orangemen their first loss in 12 games (dating back to 2000) with an 11-10 victory at the Carrier Dome on March 17. Loyola was ranked No. 10 when it beat SU 14-13 in overtime at Curley Field on April 7.
Last year, Syracuse finished 8-1 against ranked teams during the regular season. The Orangemen were 5-1 against opponents ranked in the top ten in 2000.
Syracuse Program Approaching 700 All-Time Wins
The all-time record of the Syracuse men's lacrosse program is 695-274-15 (.714). The Orangemen need to win five more games this season for the program to reach the 700-win milestone in 2001. Johns Hopkins is the only program in Division I that has won more than 700 games.
Springer Looks to Get Healthy for the UMass Game
Sophomore attackman Michael Springer (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) missed the Hobart game on Tuesday because of illness. He stayed home in Syracuse to recuperate and get ready for the UMass game.
In his last outing against Penn, Springer led SU with four goals. He also had an assist to tie Josh Coffman as the game's leading scorer. Springer's first goal of the game, at the 10:28 mark of the first quarter, represented his 100th career point. He became the third SU player to reach the century mark in career points this season. Coffman and Liam Banks also achieved the milestone in April.
Springer has registered at least one point in every game he has appeared in for the Orangemen (26 games). He is averaging 4.00 points per game for his career.
Springer matched his season-high of four goals in the win against Virginia. He is now fourth on the team in overall scoring this season (36 points, 25 goals, 11 assists). He is tied with Coffman for the team lead in goals. On February 23 against Colgate, Springer notched his 50th career goal. He is averaging 2.81 goals per game for his career.
He has had 19 games in his career in which he has posted four or more points, including six this season.
Springer has 104 career points (73 goals and 31 assists).
Powell Leads SU in Scoring, Ranks Fourth in the Nation in PPG
First-year attackman Michael Powell (Carthage, NY/Carthage) is leading the Orangemen in scoring with 48 points (22 goals, team-high 26 assists) or a 4.36 point-per-game average. Powell ranks fourth in the country in points per game and is tied for fifth in the nation in assists per game (2.50).
He had one assist in the Hobart game -- the fewest amount of points he has scored all season. Prior to that, Powell tallied at least three points in SU's first 10 games.
Powell matched his season-high of six points with two goals and four assists against Brown and Loyola. He had the same numbers against Virginia.
Powell turned in a three-goal, one-assist performance against Princeton. He had two goals and two assists versus Hopkins. With SU trailing the Blue Jays, 11-9, at the two-minute mark, Powell took a feed from Springer and fired a shot into the Hopkins net. The goal put the Orangemen within one with 1:52 left on the clock.
Powell has netted three hat tricks this season (against Princeton, Cornell and Rutgers). The three goals stand as his career high, so far.
Occasionally, Powell serves as a wingman during faceoffs. Against Virginia and Loyola, he collected a team-high six ground balls. He is currently third on the team in ground balls (43).
In the season opener against Colgate on February 23, Powell tied Springer with a game-high four points. He had one goal, three assists and three ground balls in his collegiate debut.
With his two older brothers, Casey and Ryan Powell, sharing the school record for career points, it is nearly impossible to not draw comparisons between the three. Casey Powell was the last freshman to lead a Syracuse team in scoring - that was during the 1995 championship season.
The last freshman to rank among the top five point-scorers in the nation was Keith Cromwell (5th) in 1998.
Syracuse Lacrosse Freshman Scoring Records (Since 1971)
Points in a Season
| 74 | (33-41) | John Zulberti | 1986 |
| 67 | (39-28) | Casey Powell | 1995 |
| 63 | (42-21) | Larry Storrier | 1976 |
| 54 | (28-26) | Tim O'Hara | 1977 |
| 52 | (32-20) | Brad Short | 1979 |
| 50 | (37-13) | Oliver Hill | 1972 |
| 48 | (22-26) | Michael Powell | 2001 |
| 42 | (22-20) | Barry Powless | 1976 |
| 37 | (21-16) | Tom Nelson | 1984 |
| 36 | (14-22) | Rob Kavovit | 1994 |
| 35 | (22-13) | Charlie Lockwood | 1991 |
| 34 | (22-12) | Rob McCarthy | 1978 |
| (11-23) | Sid Hill | 1971 | |
| 33 | (16-17) | Ryan Powell | 1997 |
| 31 | (21-10) | Brad Kotz | 1982 |
| 29 | (25-4) | Gary Gait | 1987 |
| (11-18) | Mike Cornelius | 1974 |
Solliday Steps Up, Scores a Season-High Three Goals at Hobart
Junior midfielder Brian Solliday (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage) registered a season-high four points in the win against Hobart. He equalled his career-high with three goals and one assist. The three goals were the most Solliday has scored since his 1999 hat trick versus Rutgers.
The left-handed Solliday has started in all 11 games as part of SU's first offensive midfield unit. He is the team's fifth-leading scorer with 18 points (12 goals, six assists). He should break his career-high of 20 points that he totalled as the squad's seventh-leading scorer during the 1999 campaign.
Solliday has registered at least one point in all but one game this season (vs. Brown). Since the March 31 Brown contest, Solliday is averaging 2.0 points per game. He has totalled 10 points in SU's last five games, including a two-goal effort against Penn.
Solliday is the owner of 43 career points (33 goals, 10 assists).
Hogan Getting Good at Shooting on the Run
Sophomore midfielder Pat Hogan (St. Louis, MO/DeSmet Jesuit) has caught fire as of late, scoring on four-of-seven shots over the course of SU's last five games.
Against Hobart, Hogan ripped a shot on the fly which was good for his third goal in as many games.
As a freshman, Hogan saw limited action in nine contests. This year, he has worked himself onto SU's second midfield line along with senior Jason Januszkiewicz (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) and junior Tom Hardy (Tully, NY/Tully). This unit has accounted for nine goals in SU's last four games. In fact, 10 of their combined 18 points on the season, have been recorded during the Orangemen's last four outings.
On the season, Hogan has connected on five-of-10 shots. He is tied with rookie Brian Nee for the best shooting percentage on the team (.500).
Another midfield trend includes first-teamer Spencer Wright (San Diego, CA/Junipero Serra) who owns a point-scoring streak of six games. Wright has six goals and four assists in SU's last six games. He is the team's seventh-leading scorer with 14 points (10 goals, four assists).
