Steve Panarelli loves to talk. The star defender on the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team can talk endlessly on subjects from sports to hip-hop music. He has built a reputation over the years as an aggressive trash talker.

Yet, the most interesting topic to speak about with Panarelli remains the one time on the lacrosse field he was left with nothing to say.

Frustration builds when he recalls the rainy day in May 2005 when Massachusetts defeated SU in a 16-15 nailbiter in the first round of the NCAA Championships. The Minutemen’s victory ended Syracuse’s streak of 22-straight seasons of reaching a Final Four.

The self-confident sophomore found himself hushed. After the loss, Panarelli returned to his home in Farmingdale, N.Y., where he idled around the house for close to a week.

Panarelli blamed himself for the loss. He held himself responsible not because he did not step up in the game’s most crucial moments, but because he felt he had not been committed to the team in the first place.

At home, Panarelli was able to dissect what had happened to him during his sophomore season.

‘As an 18-year-old kid you come in and you start and you win a national championship and you get All-American and you kind of forget what got you there,’ Panarelli explained. ‘You think this is what it is: you come here and you win a national championship. And I took it for granted. I didn’t work as hard as I did in high school. I really grew up quick after (sophomore) year.’

The sophomore season that silenced Panarelli will remain in the back of his mind. However, Panarelli looks to the future. He returns as a senior wanting to see his Syracuse career come full circle by ending it with a championship. Panarelli knows achieving this goal starts with him taking charge of an underachieving SU defense and leading them back to respectability.

Panarelli had a reputation as an athlete who goes all out. The one time he relaxed his intensity, it hurt not only himself, but also his entire team. Panarelli saw he had to bring back that passion next year or he would never forgive himself.

The following season Panarelli rededicated himself to lacrosse. He slimmed down, returned to the All-American list his junior year – a feat he accomplished as a freshman – and helped the Orange reach the final four before losing to eventual champion Virginia.

The fire was back, particularly at the turning point of SU’s season. After a loss to Hobart on March 28, Panarelli entered the locker room enraged. He flipped over the catering table that held the team’s post-game food. Then, he began screaming in the faces of his teammates. The outburst set the stage for the rest of the season for the Orange.

It was a new Panarelli. He had a tattoo of Ireland, an Italian flag and Jesus etched on his back after the game. Turns out it was lucky ink.

The team pulled it together after Hobart. Syracuse reeled off nine straight victories and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championships as the Orange founded a new final four streak.

But he knows the statistics. The Orange allowed an average of 10 goals a game, putting the defense 47th in the country.

He has heard the criticism of his own defense for four years. He has a propensity to go for the kill instead of sitting back and playing patiently. Usually his speed and athleticism permits him to succeed with these risks, however when his risks fail to pay off, the consequences can allow the opposition to receive wide-open shots on the net.

Panarelli believes the gambles he takes help SU more often than not. Still, he admits he has been working on controlling his frenzied manner of playing defense.

‘I’ve learned how to balance taking risks and playing stupid,’ Panarelli said. ‘There’s a fine line there. And I think I’ve done a good job of trying to balance that and still having my style.’

It didn’t bother Panarelli at first. In spite of the questioning, Syracuse won its ninth national championship in Panarelli’s freshman year. It took the loss to Massachusetts to provoke the realization that Panarelli needed to take his game to the next level.

A defeat like the one to UMass can leave a player with two choices. Either he can sulk in his disappointment throughout the entire summer, or he can turn his frustration into motivation.

The ultra-competitive Panarelli, who also played football and wrestled at Farmingdale High School, elected the motivation.

Over that summer, Panarelli ran every day. He lifted weights continuously. And to ensure he was doing everything he possibly could do to put himself in peak physical condition, Panarelli called up a former athletic trainer from high school, Phil Fandale, and asked him for help in improving his workout regimen.

‘He was disgusted with himself,’ Fandale said. ‘He was very unhappy. He wanted to get motivated again.’

Fandale said he could not believe Panarelli’s poor shape when he came to him for help. Panarelli always prided himself on a strong work ethic and it was shocking to Fandale to see the former wrestling, football and lacrosse star so unfit.

Fandale conditioned Panarelli throughout the summer and also during Winter Break with plyometrics and resistance running. Panarelli sprinted and lifted weights on his own as he prepared for the upcoming season.

Panarelli had undergone a total makeover by the end of the summer. He was 20 pounds lighter and felt like he was in the best shape of his life. When Panarelli returned to Syracuse, the team could sense a new-and-improved player had walked onto the field. In his junior year, the star defender was voted by his teammates as one of the Orange’s four captains.

A year later he earned the honor for a second time. Panarelli’s selection as captain for two consecutive years demonstrated the trust his teammates had in their verbal leader, not only as a motivator, but also as a skilled defender.

‘He’s the heart and soul of that defense,’ fellow captain Greg Rommel said. ‘He’s everything you could ask for out of a leader on defense – emotionally, physically or whatnot. Whenever there’s a problem or anyone needs to make a play, he’s the guy.’

After starting a new final four streak last year, Panarelli now hopes to take his team one step further in his last season. Panarelli anticipates finishing off his lacrosse career at Syracuse the same way he began it. He wants to win a championship.

This year’s team consists of the usual offensive firepower you would expect from a Syracuse squad. Panarelli believes this season the defense can keep up with its high-intensity counterpart.

John Wright was the lone graduate from last year’s group of defensemen, meaning the Orange returns loads of experience to the turf. While in the previous season only Panarelli and Wright brought veteran leadership to the field, now the team has plenty of familiarity under its belt. All it needs now is a leader.

Guiding the defense falls almost entirely on its lone senior’s shoulders. Do not expect the risks to altogether disappear. It would be an insult to the team if he ever eliminated that aspect from his game.

It’s Panerelli’s wild personality that makes him an excellent motivator. He loves to get the crowd into the game, either by laying out an attackman with a well-timed check or his favorite routine – scoring a goal.

Panarelli adores his part as the defender who carries on the SU tradition of scoring on defense.

‘It’s a Syracuse characteristic and we can’t take it out of his Orange blood,’ SU head coach John Desko, adding he’s happy with his trigger-happy defenseman as long as his shots end up in the back of the net.

The reputation followed Panarelli from high school, where even his high school coach Bob Hartranft described Panarelli as a tremendous athlete who ‘always a had a flair for the dramatic.’

After scoring five goals in 2006, Panarelli said he hopes to score double-digits this season. The goal rests on the backburner for Panarelli. It’s all about leading the defense now.

Naturally, Panarelli talks about it all the time. He wants to go out on the lacrosse field and show one last time how his actions can speak volumes more than his words.

‘If we play the way we’re capable, I think we’ve got a good shot,’ Panarelli said. ‘If we stay healthy and do what we’re supposed to, I don’t see any reason why this team can’t win a national championship.’

Published on February 14, 2007 at 12:00 pm