Men's Lacrosse Answers Questions from the Media on Jan. 30

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The 2005 SU men's lacrosse team held its first, official media day on Sunday, Jan. 30. The Orange took a team photo and conducted interviews with members of the local media.

Here are some excerpts from some of the conversations:

Coach Desko on his team’s first scrimmage against Navy on Feb. 12^th:

“It really is only a couple weeks away. It will be a repeat of the national championship here in the Carrier Dome, so I think it will be a cool thing for the fans to come out and watch Navy play Syracuse again.”

Desko shares some of his thoughts on the season so far:

“We’re happy with the effort of the team. I think that’s one of the most encouraging things. We’re a pretty young team, with five of our top six scorers having graduated, so that’s our big challenge for this year. Fortunately, the defense is back. Jay Pfeifer is back, so that should be a strength for us. It’s great to get back out here, the energy is high.”

Desko on the absence of No. 22 this year:

“We have had a Powell for the last decade on the sidelines, so to not have a number 22 out there will be a bit different. But, we’re really coaching and emphasizing a team offense this year. We want everyone touch the ball equally. That’s what we’re going to try to do. We’ve got some great younger kids coming in the future.”

Desko explaining how he and his staff approached fall practice this year:

“We did a lot more this fall as far as coaching. Some falls, some teams like to go out and evaluate their players. This fall, we did a lot of coaching with the offense, so that coming into the spring it’s a little bit more of a refresher. Just with all the new people. The old guys, the four-year players, have been around the offense for four years and it is second nature to them, where it’s not for these guys. We’ve got to get out and do a lot of repetition with our offense, but we’re happy with the progression so far.”

More from Desko about his offense:

“It’s really team. We do have a good defensive unit coming back. The offensive unit is going to be good. I don’t know when. But, they’re working really hard and we’re using everybody within the offense. We’re not going to just one guy this time.”

Desko on his defense:

“Our defense was young last year. We’re very fortunate they performed well, especially going into the final four and into the championship game. But, we’ve still got some work to do there, too.”

Desko on leadership:

“Hopefully people will step up. We’ve got a leader like Jay Pfeifer who’s a captain, a fifth-year goaltender for us. He’s had a lot of game experience, a couple of national championship rings on his fingers, so we’ll look for him to lead us. He’s seen a lot of lacrosse, so I think he can do that for us this year.”

Desko on what he thinks other coaches are thinking about his SU offense:

“A lot of coaches will look at us this year and say, ‘You know, the Lindsays, Vallones, Doughertys are gone. The Powells, Nees and Zinks are gone.’ We lost a lot of points and a lot of experience and they probably think we aren’t returning that many points, but, we’ve always had guys step up for us and we need guys to do that this year. I think that’s the reason they came here - to have a shot at winning the national championship. I think that’s one thing Syracuse Lacrosse does. It draws a competitor to play here. They want to have a shot at the final four and a national championship, and we love having that kind of attitude come in.”

Fifth-year goalie Jay Pfeifer’s thoughts this early in the season:

“The past couple weeks of practice everyone has been playing well. We’re looking forward to playing the Midshipmen on Feb. 12. We’ve got a lot of young athletes. Mikey Leveille’s doing really well at attack. We’ve got some middies out there who’ve been stepping it up the past few practices. We’ve lost a lot of fire power so we need to have them step up.”

Pfeifer on his role as a leader this year:

“Yeah, I have a much bigger role this year as captain. Last year we had four seniors as captains and a lot closer team. This year, half the team is brand new to Syracuse University and half the team are returners, so it is kind of hard to mesh everyone together. I’ve just got to take on the role to help everybody get along and work as a team.”

Senior midfielder Jake Plunket on his thoughts for 2005:

“I look at it as we’re defending National Champions right now, so there are going to be people gunning for us no matter what. Obviously, we have one of the biggest fan bases around for lacrosse and we’ve got the Dome, so those doubters are going to have to come and see what we’re like in game-time situations.”

More from Plunket:

“A lot of the older guys, the veterans and leaders, are on the defensive end of the field. We have Jay in the goal. It seems like he’s been here six or seven years. We’ve got Scott Ditzelll transferring here from Herkimer. We’ve got Johnny Wright and Steve Panarelli, so our defense is obviously real strong. We’re real experienced there. On the offensive side, I think we have players returning that were maybe second line last year, but they have the experience to take it to the next level. I think we are going to prove a lot of people wrong if they think we’re not offensive-oriented. I know a lot of these guys love to play the fast-paced game. Our attackmen love to run it up and down the field and score. It’s always going to be like that. We’ve got to make the fans happy, you know.”

Junior attackman Brian Crockett:

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re looking forward to the season coming up. I think the freshmen are looking pretty good, especially offensively. We’ve got a lot of new guys in here and most of them are doing a real good job so we’re pretty excited. I think we’re looking pretty good. Where we’re hurting is being with a lot of young guys, but we’re making up for that with a lot of hustle and guys are really learning quick and playing hard.”

More from Crockett, SU’s lone returning starter at attack:

“Coming into this season we knew that we were going to have a totally new team, a new offensive team, and we’re not going to have the luxury of having five or six seniors out there leading us. So it’s just going to come from hard work in practice and listening to the coaches and playing as hard as we can.”

Crockett on the loss of Michael Powell and the No. 22:

“Certainly Mike is one of the best players I’ve ever played with and it’d be great to have another year with him, but we’re not thinking that we don’t have Mike and how tough it’s going to be without him. We’re just going to go out and play hard and do the best that we can. That’s a pretty special number around here and I don’t think anybody really feels that that’s their spot to take that number, so we’ll leave that with Mike and give it a year off or so.”

Crockett on freshman attackman Mike Leveille:

“Coming in, Leveille is definitely one of the best freshmen we’ve got in here. He’s going to be a big player this year as a freshman. He’s stepping in and he’s going to be a big factor for us.”

Freshman attackman Mike Leveille:

“It’s been great. Every aspect of it has really been great. We’re starting to come together as a team on the field. It’s been all that I’ve expected it to be.”

More from Leveille:

“We are young, but we’ve got some experience too. Every guy that’s returning is a returning national champion and in the playoffs, they’ve been through some tough times and some good times, so I think as a team we’re really bonding together, regardless of age.”

Syracuse University Athletics

Men's Lacrosse Answers Questions from the Media on Jan. 30

Related News

Related Videos