Feb

SU lacrosse dominates Providence

Kareem Obeid 02/19/09

A season ago, the Syracuse men’s Lacrosse last year was picked to finish 11th in the country, but ended up on top.
But as the 2009 season started, a new batch of questions arose.
How would Syracuse respond to adversity in the 2009 season losing their star players like the Tewaaraton trophy winner attackman Mike Leveille and midfielder of the year Steven Brooks? Who will fill the void of the departure of face-off king Danny Brennan? In addition, will John Lade solidify the second starting position?
Before Sunday’s opener against Providence Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome, head coach John Desko told his players, It’s a brand new season. Please take off your rings.”
The point being made, SU controlled all facets of the game and overwhelmed Providence by a score of 22-3.
Providence was the Metro Atlantic 2008 champions and will be joining the Big East next year. But the Friars’ first encounter with the Orange was a memorable one in front of 5,405 roaring fans at the Carrier Dome.
SU used its superior depth, size, and talent to outperform Providence. Senior attacker Kenny Nims scored a career-high three goals, plus five assists and five blocked shots.
Sophomore attackman Steven Keogh also registered a career-high five goals. Seven of Nims’ points and all of Keogh’s goals were generated in the first half. Midfielder Greg Neiwierowski chipped with three goals, too, to move his career total to 26.
SU dominated the first half with an excellent scoring attack led by Nims and Keogh. The Orange utilized a successful combination of experience, talent, and excellent passing.
Providence briefly caused a 1-1 tie, but that didn’t last. The Friars committed a costly three- minute penalty when Dean Fraser’s long pole was ruled to be illegal.
So Syracuse pounced on the opportunity of having a man advantage and cashed in with three goals in a span of 1:45. Nims fired in a sharp angled shot from 12 yards away and Keough scored two more times that gave Syracuse a 6-1 lead, all before the first quarter was done.
In the second quarter, the Orange continued their offensive assault all the way to the end of the half, to a goal with two seconds remaining. Chris Daniello warded off a Providence defenseman and threw in bullet shot over the head of goalie Robert Bryan.
Throughout the second half, SU continued to pound the Friars into submission. The Orange scored 10 goals, five in each period, and scooped up 29 ground balls.
The Orange held a whopping advantage with shots on goal 55-12 for entire the game and at one point scored 15 consecutive goals.
Syracuse was nearly unblemished in penalty kills going 5-for-6. One of the main issues of concern was how the Orange were going to handle face-offs.
As it turned out, SU won 17 out of 27 and dominated in time of possession. The only bad news was that the Orange played a sloppy fourth quarter committing too many penalties and sophomore long stick midfielder Joel White suffered an injury to his left ankle and did not play.

CATEGORY: Lacrosse
TAGS: SU, lacrosse, Providence, opening win
EDITION: Syracuse City Eagle