The motto was always the same for the Daddios.

“Confident, not cocky.”

And as Chris Daddio emerged as one of the best high school players in Northern Virginia, his older brother Kyle made sure he didn’t lose sight of that mantra. The summer before Daddio started his career at Syracuse, Kyle brought him to summer league games to compete against Major League Lacrosse players and former college All-Americans.

Daddio held his own, but learned a valuable lesson.

“When I was playing around my friends, I was better than a lot of people so I was pretty confident,” Daddio said. “He’d bring me into his games and kind of knock me down a level. That was his way of telling me to stay at that confidence level.

“Get the experience, but make sure not to get too high on yourself.”

This season, Daddio’s maintenance of that approach has never been more apparent.

Since the Orange’s and Daddio’s season hit rock bottom in a 21-7 loss at Duke on March 23, he’s won 56.7 percent of his faceoffs as his turnaround has fueled SU’s. With renewed life at the X, the Orange has won seven of its last eight games and heads into the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 overall seed.

But Daddio’s demeanor heading into his final NCAA tournament is identical to what it was no more than a month and a half ago, when the blame for Syracuse’s losses fell mostly on his shoulders.

His levelheadedness has kept him humble throughout his comeback and persistent through a time when he was the most scrutinized player on the team.

“That’s just the way I’ve always been,” Daddio said. “I’ve got to keep my composure. You never want to be the guy that’s bragging about the way he’s doing — especially the way I started off. I couldn’t say much.”

As a senior at Loudoun Valley (Va.) High School in 2010, he won 88 percent at the X, tallied 71 points and earned U.S. Lacrosse All-American honors. He jumped at the first sign of interest from the Orange and became part of the second-ranked recruiting class in the country.

Daddio joined a Syracuse faceoff unit that had won more than 50 percent of its faceoffs in seven of the previous eight seasons before his arrival.

But since then, the Orange — with Daddio as its primary option at the X — has not reached that plateau.

“He does put a lot of pressure on himself,” Kyle said. “In past years, he let that pressure affect him negatively.”

Once the final horn sounded on Duke’s 16-10 victory over Syracuse in the national championship game last year, Daddio took a seat on the SU bench and watched the Blue Devils celebrate until he was one of the very last people left on the field.

He only took four faceoffs that day — he lost all of them — but still felt responsible for Brendan Fowler’s 20-of-28 day at the X and Duke’s ensuing celebration.

“I really just kind of let it dig into my skin and really frustrate me in the best way possible,” Daddio said. “The biggest part of our loss was because of faceoffs, and me not being able to even have much of a chance because of my struggle throughout the season was pretty tough on me.”

For the first three years of his Syracuse career, Daddio failed to live up to the reputation he established as a top-flight recruit.

Halfway through this season, it was more of the same.

When Fowler lined up at the X for a national championship rematch on March 23, it was against SU freshman Joe DeMarco, who took the first faceoff of his collegiate career.

After the Blue Devils blew out Syracuse, the Orange fell to 4-3 having lost its first three Atlantic Coast Conference games. SU was in danger of missing the conference tournament, and perhaps even the national tournament, if Daddio didn’t raise his level of play.

“The amazing thing about Chris is he kept pushing,” senior defender Matt Harris said. “He kept doing the things he did every day and I think he knew at some point there was going to be a turnaround.”

That turnaround started with Notre Dame, when Daddio was just a week removed from being benched against Duke.

Daddio won the opening faceoff against UND, and the resurgence began. It led to a six-game winning streaking, including a double-overtime win against North Carolina — in which he won 18-of-26 faceoffs — that pushed SU into the ACC tournament.

Still, his demeanor in postgame press conferences didn’t change. His expressions gave little indication to his success and he refused to admit satisfaction with himself.

Yet on the field, there was a clear improvement. Whether it’s throwing his hand out farther as he goes for a clamp, adjusting his exits or developing his decision making with the ball, all of Daddio’s hard work with assistant coach Kevin Donahue has come together for Syracuse at the right time.

“I’m amazed,” SU head coach John Desko said. “With all the emphasis on it and the faceoff being talked about so much, he’s been extremely resilient.”

The ultimate test came in the ACC tournament semifinals on April 25 against none other than Fowler himself. The Duke faceoff specialist won 13-of-15 draws in the second and third quarters and more in the fourth as the Blue Devils built a four-goal lead.

But as SU mounted a comeback, Daddio won the last three faceoffs, including two in the last 15 seconds to allow the Orange a miraculous last-second win.

“I came out and just trusted my move,” Daddio said, “and knew that I didn’t really have a choice with the way I’ve played against him in the past.”

With Bryant’s Kevin Massa and Maryland’s Charlie Raffa — two of the country’s premier faceoff specialists — in the Orange’s quarter of the NCAA tournament bracket, Daddio needs one more hot streak to help his team capture a national championship.

Only then would he deviate from his demeanor and be satisfied with his comeback — and maybe crack a smile after a game.

“I don’t really care about the stats, personally,” Daddio said. “I just care about getting my team the ball and giving them their chances. It’s nice to be doing a little bit better, but I’m not happy yet.

“I won’t be happy until I get back what I lost last year.”

Published on May 8, 2014 at 1:30 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb