Dearth Taking Final Season One Week at a Time
2/5/2020 3:00:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
This story is a sampling of the content that will appear in Friday's game program, which can be purchased for $2 at the Dome.
Peter Dearth is a force.
One of the nation's top defensive midfielders, the 'Cuse senior enters his final go around with the Orange lacrosse program. As a two-time captain and defensive leader, Dearth hopes to help mold the latest incarnation of a Syracuse lacrosse program with Memorial Day potential into a group that reaches the sport's pinnacle weekend.
But for now NCAA Championship dreams are on the backburner, with all eyes on Colgate and a "Win the Week" mentality all that he and his teammates are focused on. The thought process is something that he learned in his first season as a captain last season and was reinforced in a meeting with a group of alumni – Mike Leveille, Evan Brady and Ed Warszycki – this spring.
"I think the biggest thing I learned was not overreacting to any specific situation," Dearth said. "I think it's easy to freak out when things might not be going well. When we lost to Colgate last year, we were obviously very concerned and knew we needed to fix things immediately, then when we beat Albany and had a good game the following week it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of us. Through the experience you learn that the road isn't going to be easy and you need to keep your head level. If you have a huge win or a bad loss, no matter what you have to stay level headed."
Leveille and Brady captained the 2008 NCAA Championship squad and stressed the importance of attacking every week with the team in their meeting. That's something the team has taken to heart this season, as well as Dearth, who doesn't want to get ahead of himself in his final season wearing a Syracuse jersey.
"I like this quote – 'you don't count the days, you make the days count' – and I've been thinking about that a lot. I try not to think about it being my last go around or get to ahead of myself, I try to be in the moment with everything," Dearth said.
"We brought it out of the meeting. Their mindset in 2008 was to take the year step-by-step, game-by-game and week-by-week. I think [Brendan] Curry was the first to bring it out, but that's how we're going to approach this season."
Dearth came to 'Cuse with the coaches expecting the New Jersey native to contribute to the offensive midfield. In his sophomore season, he started the year on the Orange's top midfield line before sliding back to defensive midfield.
"I think the narrative is that I did it to help the team, but the reality is that I was bad on offense," Dearth said with a laugh. "I wasn't playing much and thought that I could maybe help out on the defensive side. I think no matter what you're doing you have to embrace it 100-percent and give it your all."
Dearth's accounting of his offensive skillset is more modesty than reality. The captain is more of a two-way middie than anything else, scoring six times last season and had a shooting percentage of .400 last season.
"I think the style of play here is always high tempo. They give us the green light in transition and we work on it a lot in practice," Dearth said. "Our staff has never been one to tell us to slow it down as long as it's the right opportunity."
Dearth's previous experience has gone well noticed nationally. A 2019 All-American, Dearth is also an Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American heading into 2020.
Syracuse opens the regular season on Friday, Feb. 7 when Colgate visits the Dome at 4 p.m. 2020 Season tickets are now on sale. You can be part of that action and join the nation's largest lacrosse crowds by purchasing season tickets for just $65 for adults and $35 for youth (12 and under). Student tickets are free with a valid student ID. Season tickets for the upcoming season are now on sale at Cuse.com/tickets and at the Syracuse Box Office (888-DOME-TIX or in person at the Ensley Athletic Center).
Peter Dearth is a force.
One of the nation's top defensive midfielders, the 'Cuse senior enters his final go around with the Orange lacrosse program. As a two-time captain and defensive leader, Dearth hopes to help mold the latest incarnation of a Syracuse lacrosse program with Memorial Day potential into a group that reaches the sport's pinnacle weekend.
But for now NCAA Championship dreams are on the backburner, with all eyes on Colgate and a "Win the Week" mentality all that he and his teammates are focused on. The thought process is something that he learned in his first season as a captain last season and was reinforced in a meeting with a group of alumni – Mike Leveille, Evan Brady and Ed Warszycki – this spring.
"I think the biggest thing I learned was not overreacting to any specific situation," Dearth said. "I think it's easy to freak out when things might not be going well. When we lost to Colgate last year, we were obviously very concerned and knew we needed to fix things immediately, then when we beat Albany and had a good game the following week it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of us. Through the experience you learn that the road isn't going to be easy and you need to keep your head level. If you have a huge win or a bad loss, no matter what you have to stay level headed."
Leveille and Brady captained the 2008 NCAA Championship squad and stressed the importance of attacking every week with the team in their meeting. That's something the team has taken to heart this season, as well as Dearth, who doesn't want to get ahead of himself in his final season wearing a Syracuse jersey.
"I like this quote – 'you don't count the days, you make the days count' – and I've been thinking about that a lot. I try not to think about it being my last go around or get to ahead of myself, I try to be in the moment with everything," Dearth said.
"We brought it out of the meeting. Their mindset in 2008 was to take the year step-by-step, game-by-game and week-by-week. I think [Brendan] Curry was the first to bring it out, but that's how we're going to approach this season."
Dearth came to 'Cuse with the coaches expecting the New Jersey native to contribute to the offensive midfield. In his sophomore season, he started the year on the Orange's top midfield line before sliding back to defensive midfield.
"I think the narrative is that I did it to help the team, but the reality is that I was bad on offense," Dearth said with a laugh. "I wasn't playing much and thought that I could maybe help out on the defensive side. I think no matter what you're doing you have to embrace it 100-percent and give it your all."
Dearth's accounting of his offensive skillset is more modesty than reality. The captain is more of a two-way middie than anything else, scoring six times last season and had a shooting percentage of .400 last season.
"I think the style of play here is always high tempo. They give us the green light in transition and we work on it a lot in practice," Dearth said. "Our staff has never been one to tell us to slow it down as long as it's the right opportunity."
Dearth's previous experience has gone well noticed nationally. A 2019 All-American, Dearth is also an Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American heading into 2020.
Syracuse opens the regular season on Friday, Feb. 7 when Colgate visits the Dome at 4 p.m. 2020 Season tickets are now on sale. You can be part of that action and join the nation's largest lacrosse crowds by purchasing season tickets for just $65 for adults and $35 for youth (12 and under). Student tickets are free with a valid student ID. Season tickets for the upcoming season are now on sale at Cuse.com/tickets and at the Syracuse Box Office (888-DOME-TIX or in person at the Ensley Athletic Center).
Players Mentioned
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