2010 Season Preview - Part I
2/3/2010 11:52:01 AM | Men's Lacrosse
During the next two days, SUathletics.com will preview the upcoming 2010 men's lacrosse season. Part I of the preview focuses on the attack and midfield. Part II features an overview of the team's defensive midfield, close defense, faceoff specialists and goalies.
Having won the 2008 and 2009 national championships, Syracuse enters this season on the verge of its second “three-peat.” But don't mention that to head coach John Desko. His sole focus is preparing the Orange to go out and win the 2010 NCAA title, not defend the previous two.
“I've never talked about defending a national championship,” Desko said. “The championships in previous years are in the bank. I'm not defending those. They're always going to be there. We'd much rather climb the mountain than stand on top of it and try to push everybody aside.”
The group of players Desko will try to guide back to the college lacrosse mountaintop features eight preseason All-Americans and five players who started at least 10 games last season. In addition, several key reserves are back in the fold.
However, the road to another NCAA title won't be easy. While the team's strengths are its defense and attack units, Desko must work to replenish a midfield corps depleted by graduation. And, as always, Syracuse will play one of the toughest schedules in the nation, including five games against teams listed in the top 10 of Inside Lacrosse's Face-Off Yearbook rankings.
In addition, this year's path to the NCAA playoffs will be paved away from the Carrier Dome. SU's 2010 regular-season slate features just six home dates, the fewest for the Orange since 2004. There's also the added wrinkle of six BIG EAST Conference games, as this year marks the league's inaugural season. The Orange will face some unfamiliar foes with the onset of conference play.
But no matter the challenges that lie ahead, the Orange's goal is always the same.
“Here the ultimate goal is to win a national championship,” Desko said. “That's the ultimate goal in everyone's mind, but the key to that is you have to win the next game before you can talk about the playoffs or a national championship.”
In order for the Orange to win its third straight title, it's going to be one step at a time up the 2010 college lacrosse mountainside.
ATTACK
While the Orange lost the quarterback of its offense with the graduation of Kenny Nims, scoring has never been a problem for Syracuse. It shouldn't be again this year as the Orange brings back two of the best finishers in the college game.
Junior Stephen Keogh is in his second season as a starter after bursting onto the scene in 2009. A third-team preseason All-American, Keogh led the nation with 49 goals last year on his way to USILA Honorable Mention All-America honors. He ranked second on the club with 55 points and proved to be lethal in man-up situations, leading the country with 12 extra-man tallies.
Keogh will be complemented by senior Cody Jamieson, who provided glimpses of what he's capable of offensively at the end of last season. Named to the 2010 Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America Second Team, Jamieson was cleared for competition by the NCAA last April, and he recorded nine goals and 12 points in six games. He earned NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team honors and scored the winning goal in overtime against Cornell in last year's NCAA title game.
The duo of Keogh and Jamieson is expected to give opponents fits around the crease, opening the door for others to step up and contribute on the offensive end.
One of the players who will benefit from the attention drawn by Keogh and Jamieson is senior co-captain Chris Daniello. After scoring just four goals in his first two seasons, Daniello exploded for 21 goals a year ago. He played in 18 games in 2009 and made 11 starts, sharing time in a rotation with Tim Desko.
Desko, a redshirt sophomore, will compete for the role of the team's fourth attackman this season. He had 17 points, including 13 goals in 2009. Also in the mix for that spot is Ryan Barber who impressed the coaching staff in the fall after redshirting in 2009.
Freshmen Ned Parker, Christian Pagli and transfers Collin Donahue and Joe Giarrusso round out the unit. Donahue played his first two seasons at Rutgers and will sit out the 2010 campaign due to BIG EAST transfer rules. He is the son of SU assistant coach Kevin Donahue and he will have two years of eligibility remaining after this year. Giarrusso is a sophomore and joined the Orange as a walk-on in the fall after playing a season at Siena.
MIDFIELD
One of the focal points of the preseason will be reconstructing the Orange's midfield unit after losing five of last year's top six at that position to graduation. Junior Josh Amidon, a preseason third-team All-America pick, is the only one back in the mix who saw significant playing time in 2009. He had 14 goals and nine assists last season and possesses one of the hardest shots on the team.
He leads a group that features some talented, but relatively inexperienced, players. Next to Amidon, junior Jovan Miller has the most game experience and figures to see more time on offense in 2010 after making his mark as a shortstick defensive middie the last two years. Miller had two goals and six assists in 2009, mostly in transition, and he is a preseason honorable mention All-American.
Heading the list of other candidates who will see time in the midfield are juniors Jeff Gilbert and Jeremy Thompson, senior Max Bartig, redshirt freshmen Steve Ianzito and Pete Coleman and true freshman JoJo Marasco. Gilbert played in 17 games and scored three goals in 2009, while Bartig saw action in 10 games last season. Ianzito and Coleman were highly-regarded high school players who spent 2009 adapting to the Orange system.
A prized recruit coming out of Lafayette High School in 2006, Thompson played the 2007 and 2009 seasons at Onondaga Community College (OCC) in Syracuse where he helped lead the Lazers to two NJCAA national titles.
Marasco was rated the No. 2 attackman in the Class of 2009 by Inside Lacrosse, but his athletic ability and the team's depth on attack paved the way for his transition into the midfield.
Senior Lincoln Cavalieri and junior Alex Giocondi add depth to the group, as do sophomores Bobby Eilers and Kyle Barrett. Giocondi moves to the midfield after playing attack his first two seasons.
Redshirt freshman Spenser Parnell and true freshmen Stefan Carpentieri, Pierce Abrams, and junior transfer Nick Desper round out the unit. Abrams is the nephew of former Orange All-American defenseman Marshall Abrams. Desper joins the Orange after playing two years at Division III Cawtaba College in North Carolina.
