Orange Among NCAA's Best
3/11/2008 4:34:41 PM | Men's Lacrosse
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The first NCAA statistics report for men's lacrosse was released on Tuesday, March 11 and the Orange ranks highly in several categories. Syracuse leads the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.680) and is fifth in scoring offense (12.75 gpg) and man-up offense (.526).
SU's prowess, particularly at the faceoff X, is one of the main reasons it's off to a 3-1 start this year.
Individually, senior faceoff specialist Danny Brennan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) leads the nation in two categories -- faceoff winning percentage (.727) and ground balls per game (7.5). Brennan is 64-of-88 on draws in 2008 and won a season-best 19 against Virginia. He also posted a 16-for-20 (.800) showing in SU's win against Georgetown on Sunday.
Brennan's 30 ground balls is a team best and he corralled 11 in SU's season-opening win against Villanova, one shy of his career high.
Two other players also rank in the top 10 nationally. Senior attackman Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) is seventh in points per game (4.5). He has 18 points on the year (9 goals, 9 assists) and trails national leader Matt Danowski of Duke (5.4 ppg). Leveille also lists eighth in assists per game (2.25).
His position mate Kenny Nims (Watertown, N.Y.) is eighth in the country in goals per game (2.75). Nims lead the Orange with 11 tallies and scored six times versus Villanova. Timmy Katz of Sacred Heart leads the way at 3.67 goals per game.
Brennan, Leveille, Nims and the rest of the Orange returns to the field Saturday when Syracuse visits Johns Hopkins. Faceoff is set for 12 p.m. on ESPNU.
