In Syracuse head coach John Desko’s mind, unsettled scoring is a must. Teams consistently try to slow the pace when playing against his Orange, he said, so when the opportunities arise, SU has to capitalize.

‘We have to find ways to get those kinds of goals,’ Desko said. ‘Most teams are going to really find ways to keep the scoring down for both groups and make us slow our game down.’

In its 2011 season opener, No. 1 Syracuse got plenty of those goals Sunday in a 13-7 win against No. 12 Denver (0-1) in the Carrier Dome in front of 4,262 fans. The Orange (1-0) scored off Pioneer turnovers in the transition game and directly off the faceoff throughout the day to get the win in the opening game of the season. It was a return to form for SU after most of its success against Maryland in a Feb. 10 exhibition game came in its half-field sets.

‘We certainly would like to get (unsettled goals),’ Desko said after the game. ‘We thrive on those. And hopefully, there’s more to come.’

Kevin Drew sparked the Orange’s transition game early with his goal in the first quarter. The junior midfielder scooped up a groundball in the Syracuse defensive zone and took off. He outran two Denver defenders and finished his full-field sprint with a shot into the top corner of the goal.

After another Syracuse goal less than a minute later, SU attack JoJo Marasco turned a failed Denver turnover into another Orange score.

Pioneers sophomore Chase Carraro sailed a pass outside the box over junior Patrick Rogers’ head. Marasco scooped it up as it rolled past midfield and took off toward the Denver cage. He sped past defender Brendan DeBlois to the crease, finishing much like Drew did in the opposite corner.

That goal put the Orange lead at 4-0, and SU would extend the margin to 6-1 with five minutes left in the first quarter.

‘I kind of like run and gun more (than settled offense),’ redshirt junior attack Tim Desko said after the win. ‘But we’ll take what we can get.’

Tim Desko’s first score in SU’s win came at the 5:12 mark of the first quarter off a failed Denver clear attempt. His second came shortly after a faceoff at the end of the third quarter.

Jeremy Thompson, who finished the day 11-of-14 at the faceoff X, created two goals for SU less than 10 seconds after a Denver score and another just 16 seconds after a Pioneers tally. Those chances squashed any momentum Denver had created with its own goals and swung it back in Syracuse’s favor. The first, which Thompson scored, put the Orange up 5-1. The second gave SU a 9-4 lead. Thompson won a third faceoff near the end of the third quarter that resulted in another Syracuse goal as Tom Palasek found Tim Desko to give Syracuse a 12-5 advantage.

‘Having us come back right there, giving up a goal on defense,’ Marasco said, ‘then going right back out and showing the defense that we can score and help them out just as much as they help us out. It’s really motivating and was able to keep us on our toes and keep playing hard and not giving up at all.’

The unsettled scoring display came 10 days after the Orange struggled to get quick scores in an exhibition match with No. 4 Maryland. All 11 Syracuse goals in that game came on long possessions. Coaches and players said it was a good sign that SU had so much success in half-field scoring last week. But they did want to get the transition game clicking.

The Orange did just that Sunday in getting out to an early lead. Denver switched to a zone defense in the second quarter and bogged down Syracuse’s half-field offense, but SU solved the scoring issue with three goals in three minutes in the third quarter that all but sealed the win.

‘I think it’s great preparation,’ John Desko said. ‘A lot of teams are going to play us like Denver played us today, so it’s great preparation for our season.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on February 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm