HAMILTON — After Syracuse’s 2-0 victory over Colgate last night at Van Doren Field, Kirk Johnson strolled outside the team bus in an electric blue shirt. The only thing more blinding was the bright smile of relief on his face.

Johnson waited two weeks for last night. The Big East’s leading scorer in conference games last season waited two weeks for his first goal and for his first start of the season.

‘It feels real good,’ Johnson said of regaining his spot in the starting lineup. ‘It gets me excited and motivated.’

Johnson celebrated his return in style yesterday.

Midway through the first half, forward Guido Cristofori blocked a clearing attempt by the Colgate defense and beat a pair of Red Raiders (1-1-1) to the loose ball. After breaking free down the left sideline, he launched a cross pass to Johnson, who dribbled once and buried the ball in the net. As the ball nestled into the netting to give the Orangemen (2-2) a 2-0 advantage, Johnson thrust his fist into the air.

Johnson, though, was one of two Orangemen celebrating a return to the starting 11. Jarett Park made his debut as a starter memorable as well.

On SU’s first goal, sophomore Ryan Hickey sprung Park on a breakaway, and with two defenders converging, Park slid the ball past Colgate goaltender Will Martin.

‘I thought the first half, the defense, which is the strength of our team, wasn’t ready to play,’ Colgate coach Mike Doherty said. ‘We weren’t ready to compete.’

By halftime, Colgate’s fans began to whisper. Neighbors questioned one another in hushed tones, asking, ‘What are these guys ranked?’

After all, this weekend, the Red Raiders had beaten No. 12 St. Bonaventure in overtime. At times, unranked Syracuse’s forwards and midfielders resembled the team that coaches envisioned when the Orangemen were ranked No. 23 in the preseason.

The Orangemen dominated time of possession in the first half, easily stringing together six and seven passes.

‘We finally had the 11 we envisioned at the start of the year,’ defender Eric Chapman said. “I’m glad it finally happened in the fourth game, instead of the 14th.”

Said Park: ‘That’s what we expect out of ourselves. We’re comfortable in the lineup we had.’

Syracuse remained calm with the ball deep in Colgate’s end, dishing it off in tight spaces. Colgate, meanwhile, struggled to complete passes in SU’s end, with SU goaltender Alim Karim consistently dashing off his goal line to pick up poor attempts.

Despite the first-half fireworks from SU’s forwards, the Orangemen struggled in the second half. Colgate pelted Karim with 21 shots, forcing him to make three diving saves, including two consecutive point-blank rejections on Colgate leading scorer Zach Stuppy.

‘Usually the coach will come out with some ire (after a poor first half),’ Chapman said. ‘The intensity of Colgate definitely picked up in the second half, but a shutout against Colgate is still substantial.’

Published on September 10, 2002 at 12:00 pm