SU Opens 2013 with Scrimmage

EXHIBITIONS #1 / 2 - Syracuse vs. Hofstra / Holy Cross
Game Details	Saturday, January 26 \| Syracuse, N.Y. Carrier Dome \| Tickets \| Weather \| Twitter: @Cuse
Schedule	Hofstra vs. Holy Cross - 10 a.m. Syracuse vs. Hofstra - 12 p.m. Syracuse vs. Holy Cross - 2 p.m.
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats
Hofstra Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats
Holy Cross Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men's lacrosse team kicks off the 2013 season at the Carrier Dome with a three-way scrimmage against Hofstra and Holy Cross on Saturday, Jan. 26. SU will take on Hofstra at 12 p.m. and Holy Cross at 2 p.m. The Pride and the Crusaders square off in the first game of the day at 10 a.m.

Each scrimmage will last 90 minutes and feature three regulation quarters followed by a fourth period of running time to fill out the rest of the session.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12-and-under. Parking is $10 per car in the surface lots located off Irving Avenue across from the Dome.

ABOUT THE ORANGE
The Orange is ranked No. 14 in this year's Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Top 20 and No. 12 in Lacrosse Magazine's 2013 Preseason Poll. The defending BIG EAST champion, Syracuse was picked to finish second in the conference behind Notre Dame in a vote by the league's head coaches earlier this week.

Junior attackman and co-captain Derek Maltz is in his second year as a starter. Last season, Maltz paced the Orange with 28 goals. He and senior midfielder JoJo Marasco are the team's offensive leaders. Marasco was recently named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team after recording 31 points on 12 goals and 19 assists last season.

The Orange offense will benefit from the addition of North Carolina transfer Nicky Galasso. The 2011 ACC Freshman of the Year, Galasso totaled 56 points (24 goals, 32 assists) as a rookie for the Tar Heels before battling back from a foot injury that limited him last season.

The defensive end of the field is where most of this team's experience lies. The Orange returns its entire close defense led by senior preseason All-American Brian Megill. In addition, Syracuse brings back its top long-stick midfielder (Matt Harris) and one of its two primary short-stick defenders (Steve Ianzito) from a year ago.

Sophomore Bobby Wardwell, who started the last nine games of 2012, and junior Dominic Lamolinara are the two favorites to earn starting goalkeeping duties. Wardwell posted a 5-4 record last year and was picked to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team after allowing only nine goals to Villanova and St. Johns at last year's conference championship.

Lamolinara played in 11 games in 2012, starting three. He posted a 3-2 record overall with 43 saves.

Head coach John Desko enters his 15th season at the helm of the SU men's lacrosse program. He holds a 171-54 career record and leads all active Division I coaches in winning percentage (.760). Desko has five NCAA national titles to his credit, trailing only Roy Simmons Jr. and Bill Tierney who have each won six.

SCOUTING HOFSTRA
The Pride enter the season ranked 19th by Lacrosse Magazine. They posted a 6-8 overall record last season and return 27 players from the 2012 squad.

Hofstra brings back its top two scorers from a year ago in senior midfielder Adrian Sorichetti (24 goals, 12 assists) and junior attackman Lance Yapor (25 goals and 10 assists). Like Syracuse, the Pride also returns all three starting defenders in graduate-students Mark Mullen and Michael Hamilton and senior Cody Solaja. In addition, the Pride should benefit from the services of senior faceoff ace John Antonaides, who ranked fifth in the NCAA in faceoff winning percentage (64 percent) in 2011. Antonaides success rate dipped to 54 percent last season, but he still ranked in the top 25 nationally.

Hofstra has five goalies in the mix to replace the departed Andrew Gvozden. The only one who received any playing time for the Pride in 2012 was Chris Selva who played a little over three minutes. The roster also features Ohio State transfer Ryan Brant, junior Jason Rosenzweig and junior college product Eddie Collins.

Hofstra is coached by Seth Tierney who begins his seventh year with the Pride. He has led the team to four NCAA Tournament berths in the last five seasons.

SCOUTING HOLY CROSS
The Crusaders are coached by former Syracuse standout Jim Morrissey who played for the Orange from 1993-96 and was a member of two NCAA championship teams. Morrissey is in his third season at Holy Cross. In 2012, the Crusaders were 5-10 overall and 0-6 in the Patriot League.

Holy Cross brings back five starters from last season, including captain and 2012 leading scorer James Kennedy (23 goals, 19 assists). Midfielder John Hannan is the Crusaders' other top offensive threat. Hannan had a team-high 27 goals last year.

Holy Cross was picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in the 2013 Patriot League Preseason Poll.

UP NEXT …
Syracuse plays its second round-robin scrimmage on Saturday Feb. 2 in Columbus, Ohio against Ohio State and Robert Morris. Start time is 11:30 a.m. at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Syracuse University Athletics

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