Even in the waning moments of Thursday’s scrimmage, Tim Desko continued to punish the Le Moyne defense at a breakneck pace.

With just three minutes to go in the final period and six goals already to his credit, Desko received a pass behind the Dolphins’ net and charged the circle. After beating his defender inside, Desko ripped yet another shot in to the back of the net.

Desko, the son of Syracuse men’s lacrosse head coach John Desko, played in his first official scrimmage with the Orange Thursday against Le Moyne and Hofstra after being redshirted last season. He finished with seven goals and two assists on the day.

‘Tim had a great day today,’ senior attack Kenny Nims said. ‘He made the most of his opportunities and had a really good game. I think you are going to see a new person step up every week, and Tim stepped up today.’

Desko’s performance marks a pivotal point in a transition he has been working on throughout his redshirt year and into the fall practices prior to this season. After being a two-year starter in the midfield at nearby West Genesee High School, Desko has been working on becoming a viable asset in both the midfield and the attack.

‘Midfield here is a lot faster, it’s just a faster game, and you’ve got to get used to it,’ Desko said. ‘Last year I didn’t feel comfortable at the midfield, so I went to the attack and it worked out a lot better for me.’

After a sluggish first period against Hofstra, Desko entered for the Orange, having an almost immediate effect. Just over a minute after Matt Abbott tallied his first goal of the night, Desko took a pass from senior midfielder Dan Hardy and rifled it in between the posts.

‘I was happy with what Tim did today,’ John Desko said. ‘I think some of the other attackmen got stuffed a couple times and didn’t shoot as well, and it was nice to substitute him in. I thought he finished the ball very well.’

Although he admits his work in the attack is still in progress, Tim Desko said the scrimmage provided him a good opportunity to refine skills at both positions.

Securing what looks to be a valuable offensive asset off the bench would provide a much-needed boost for an Orange squad that lost two of its top three scorers – Mike Leveille and Steven Brooks – to graduation last year.

Bolstering the attack, especially given the uncertain status, transfer attack Cody Jamieson would allow the Orange to prevent itself from overusing star attacks like Nims, last year’s second-leading scorer.

A key to achieving that ideal rotation will be chemistry, senior midfielder Abbott said, a central aspect that he saw potential from in Desko Thursday.

‘(Tim’s) been getting it done in practice,’ Abbott said. ‘We know what he’s capable of, and at any given time now anyone is capable of stepping up; it’s good to have that much depth on offense.’

After the scrimmage had ended, reporters crowded Desko and his father in attempt to uncover the father-son relationship buried underneath the night’s scrimmage.

But as both implied, there is still a lot of work to do. Although Tim admits that words of encouragement stemming from his seven-goal performance may be hard to come by.

‘He hasn’t said anything to me yet,’ Desko said. ‘We’ll see, he’ll probably just tell me to keep working harder. He’ll never say anything positive.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on January 30, 2009 at 12:00 pm