Before the Syracuse lacrosse team competed in the Pumpkin Stick-Out, coach John Desko said a major initiative would be to evaluate the effectiveness of his team’s youth.

After the scrimmages, he reached two conclusions: on attack, his team’s freshmen and sophomores played well offenisvely, but on defense, the underclassmen played, well, offensively.

Against Albany and Le Moyne, SU’s young defensive players looked befuddled and tentative. The Orangemen were consistently late on their defensive slides, especially when forced to cover the crease.

‘There was some confusion,’ Desko said. ‘It even reached a point where we were a little afraid to make mistakes, and as a result, we hesitated. That created some mistakes.’

Desko isn’t worried about the defensive troubles, though. Much of the miscommunication resulted from SU trying to evaluate as many players as possible. Since the Orangemen substituted freely, the defense often lacked cohesion.

The defense was also without its leader, captain Sol Bliss. He missed the entire fall season because of offseason knee surgery. Desko described Bliss as a coach on the field, and his absence forced younger players to make decisions instead of following instructions.

Conversely, Desko was pleased with his young players’ offensive performances. He was excited about Kieran Murphy, Jake Plunket and Greg Rommel, who scored two goals and assisted on two more.

Desko reserved the highest praise for freshman attacker Brian Crockett, who Desko called the lone positive of the Albany contest. Crockett notched four goals against the Great Danes and narrowly missed a fifth when Albany goalie Kevin Rae saved Crockett’s catch-and-shoot attempt directly in front of the net.

Crockett wasn’t expected to contribute so much so soon. He received the starting nod in the Albany game because of flashes he showed in previous scrimmages and impressive work ethic in fall practices.

In fact, Crockett is such a dark horse that he isn’t even listed on the Syracuse fall roster.

‘(Crockett) did a very good job,’ Desko said. ‘For a freshman, he was probably the bright spot at the offensive end of the field. He moved well with the ball and without the ball. He hustled to get open. He did a lot of the little things.’

Give ’em a ring

After its disheartening performance in the Pumpkin Stick-Out on Saturday, Syracuse needed a little cheering up. Fortunately, nothing brightens an athlete’s day like slipping a ring on a finger.

The Orangemen were presented with their 2002 national championship rings Sunday at a ceremony held at the Wyndham Hotel in Carrier Circle. Last year’s captains — Bliss, Josh Coffman, Tom Hardy, Billy St. George and John Glatzel — gave short speeches. Desko also said a few words.

Approximately 45 alumni were in town for the ceremony. The former SU lacrosse players competed in a golf tournament Friday morning at Drumlins, and most stayed to watch the rings being passed out.

This and that

In the Stick-Out, SU experimented with cutting edge, titanium helmets and cages. The new models are technologically advanced, but the new cages don’t offer enough coverage. Three Orangemen sustained facial cuts from high sticks. The worst was Crockett. ‘You could see blood trickling down his face as he came off,” Desko said. SU plans to stick with the new helmets anyway. … Giving credit where it was due, Desko praised Albany and Le Moyne’s goalkeeping. Syracuse captain Mike Springer was more facetious in his evaluation. ‘Whenever we don’t play well,” he said, “the goalies always have a big day.”

Published on October 20, 2002 at 12:00 pm