Jarett Park sat on the bench holding an ice pack to his right hip after absorbing a late hit during the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team’s 17-6 win at Loyola on Saturday. During most timeouts, he remained on the bench, too injured to join his team in the huddle.

Park practiced Monday afternoon and should be available for No. 4 Syracuse (6-2) during tonight’s game against Cornell (6-2) at 7 in the Carrier Dome. But Park likely won’t be at full speed.

‘I’m sure he’ll be a little stiff,’ SU head coach John Desko. ‘I’m sure he’ll be a little sore.’

Park wasn’t the only Orangeman dinged up Saturday. Moments before Park left the field, freshman Greg Rommel was helped to the sideline after taking a knee to his head.

‘Lacrosse is a high-contact sport,’ defender Sol Bliss said. ‘If you saw the bench at the end of the game, it looked like everyone had an ice pack on them — arms, knees, elbows, backs, whatever.’

The physicality of lacrosse is just one of the reasons Syracuse feels it has struggled playing multiple games within short spans. On March 10, the Orangemen throttled Fairfield, 19-6. Five days later, they fell behind 8-2 before coming back to beat Johns Hopkins, 15-14.

In their next game, the Orangemen fell, 11-10, to Princeton. Three days later, they played sluggishly in a 15-12 win at Hobart.

Tonight, the Orangemen look to buck the trend of poor performances on short rest.

‘At the beginning of the year, you’re still getting in shape,’ senior Liam Banks said. ‘Now, we have our legs under us. We just have to keep rolling.’

Said midfielder Sean Lindsay: ‘It’s getting everything together emotionally. A game is emotionally draining as much as it is physically draining.’

The Orangemen should be aided in dealing with the physical and emotional toll by the fact that their starters rested for most of the second half at Loyola. But SU still must cope with a lack of preparation and a practice schedule thrown off-kilter.

Bliss said the Orangemen grow accustomed to weekly preparations, featuring grueling practices and sprints toward the beginning of the week and videotape and walk-through sessions at the end.

‘This practice will be a little lighter,’ Bliss said. ‘That, and we haven’t done any preparation at all. We’re going to do a lot of learning, which also takes us out of rhythm.’

While information about an opponent’s tendencies would generally be absorbed throughout an entire week, Syracuse must now cram all the knowledge it can in a day.

Lindsay said the adjustments are generally tougher for the defense than the offense. While the offensive unit rarely changes its plays or strategy, the defense makes adjustments hinged upon an opponent’s personnel.

Although Syracuse has defenses prepared before the season for any offensive plan, the Orangemen must review different packages before different contests.

Fortunately for Syracuse, Cornell — an annual opponent — doesn’t pose too many surprises. But the Big Red has proven to possess an innate ability to surprise the Orangemen.

‘We remember that they ruined our season in 2000,’ Bliss said. ‘We remember they ruined it in 2002, by giving us a loss to a lesser-ranked opponent.’

The Big Red has beaten Syracuse in two of the past three seasons, handing SU its lone loss in 2000, as well as a 15-11 defeat last year. Cornell’s win last year jettisoned it into the NCAA Tournament.

Then-freshman Sean Greenhalgh shocked SU with his ability, leading the Big Red with six goals. Opponents have found it even harder to contain Greenhalgh this year. He’s scored on over half his shots, netting 25 goals on 48 attempts.

‘It ain’t easy,’ Desko said of the quick turnaround for Cornell. ‘Hopefully, last year’s game they’ll remember a little better than some of the other ones.’

Published on April 7, 2003 at 12:00 pm