By most standards, last year’s Syracuse men’s lacrosse team’s season would be an unqualified success. Two playoff wins. A trip to the Final Four. Double-digit victories.

By Syracuse standards, though, it approximated abject failure. Five regular-season losses, the most since 1977. A national championship game in which the Orangemen were spectators. And, worst of all, a 19-8 shellacking at the hands of Johns Hopkins to finish the season.

‘That’s something that’s been on my mind and a lot people’s mind everyday,’ SU senior midfielder Sean Lindsay said. ‘It’s just not a great feeling. As much as we want to put that behind us, it’s still in the back of our mind. It’s extra motivation.’

On Saturday, Syracuse will have its first chance to vanquish the memories of last season’s disappointment, when it hosts Army at the Carrier Dome at 2:30 p.m. in its 2004 opener.

It’s a game SU has been waiting for with baited breath since walking out of Ravens Stadium a year ago, having just failed to defend its national championship. This off-season and preseason, SU has played with an enhanced focus. Syracuse dominated both its scrimmages this preseason, against Navy and Maryland.

‘We talked about that,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘There is a little bit more of a hunger for the players and the coaching staff. We’ve all been pushing the guys a little harder than normal. They’ve responded very well so far.’

Indeed, SU’s performances in the preseason indicated that any malaise left over from last season has vanished. SU’s defense, with newcomers Scott Ditzell, a Herkimer transfer, and freshman Steve Panarelli joining incumbents Dan DiPietro and Donn Vidosh, has upgraded from last year, when it allowed 10.3 goals per game. Against Maryland, it allowed four goals through three periods.

SU’s strength, though, still lies in its high-octane offense. That’s led by Michael Powell, the favorite to win the Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation’s best player. He’s joined by Brian Crockett and Brian Nee, a pair of versatile attackmen who should take pressure off Powell.

SU’s midfield had experience in Steve Vallone and Lindsay, another Tewaaratom candidate. But it received a boost in the transfer from Johns Hopkins of Kevin Dougherty, an offensive-minded middie.

The only question for Syracuse is in the face-off circle, where it lost specialist Chris Bickel. Jake Plunket entered the spring as the leading candidate to replace Bickel, but his mediocre performance this preseason has Desko looking for another option. That might be Geoff Keough, a junior.

Or, it could be Panarelli. Desko would put a long stick defender there, not to improve SU’s odds of gaining immediate possession, but just to force a loose ball that could be scooped up by fleet wing Jarett Park.

‘We still need to improve on face-offs,’ Desko said. We’ve got quite a bit of work to do.’

Especially against Army and its slowdown offense. The Black Knights feature an offense with fewer frills than an Amish household, a direct contrast to fast-breaking Syracuse. To counter, SU will have to make the most of its possessions.

‘We know they’re going to patient,’ Lindsay said. ‘The main thing is when we have the ball, we have to make smart decisions.’

With Virginia looming next weekend, it’s feasible to think the Orangemen might be looking past lowly Army. But after losses last year to usual pushovers like Rutgers and Hofstra, the Orangemen won’t allow it.

‘A lot of teams last year we took lightly,’ Lindsay said. ‘A team maybe of Army’s caliber, we’d be like, ‘Oh, they’re Army.’ This year, we’re going to have to realize that everybody who comes in is going to play us as hard as they can, and we’re going to have to be prepared for that.

‘If a team like Rutgers came in here, we weren’t thinking they could beat us. They did. That taught us a lesson.’

That lesson won’t be the only thing filling SU’s collective head Saturday.

‘Last year, obviously things didn’t work out like we wanted them to,’ Powell said. ‘That’s the worst I’ve ever been beat as an Orangeman. That’s definitely in the back of my mind.’

Published on February 26, 2004 at 12:00 pm