Turnovers summed up all of the Orange’s problems during Syracuse men’s lacrosse team’s first scrimmages of the year.

Turnovers on transition, turnovers on penalties and even turnovers on simple passes cost Syracuse opportunities during the round-robin-style scrimmage as SU defeated Hofstra, 10-8, before falling to Le Moyne, 9-8, at the Carrier Dome on Sunday. Earlier in the day, the Dolphins overpowered Hofstra, 12-5.

SU had been practicing on half a field for the week leading up to the scrimmage because the Carrier Dome’s basketball court covered part of the turf. It’s a factor that could explain why the Orange looked so awkward on the field for most of the scrimmages. Each scrimmage was shortened to three quarters and Syracuse never looked fully at ease during the time it was out on the field.

‘We definitely aren’t in midseason form,’ Desko said. ‘A lot of mistakes, very sloppy. I’m very disappointed with the number of turnovers, but I think sometimes when you go from a half field to a full field you’re gonna get that so it’s a learning experience for us.’

Slipshod play characterized the day for Syracuse. Passing seemed to suffer the most under the Orange’s carelessness. Time after time, the Orange would have a teammate open in transition and the toss would be lofted over the player’s head.

The team even struggled to put the ball in play.

At one point during the Hofstra match, SU attackman Kenny Nims mistimed catching an inbounds pass and instead deflected the ball back out-of-bounds. Perhaps the most telling sign, though, of how uncomfortable the Orange appeared on the field.

The defenses Syracuse faced didn’t stop SU as much as the Orange hurt itself. Syracuse’s high-powered offense showed impatience as it regularly forced shots from too far outside and missed a couple of dead-on looks from around the crease.

The best plays of the game came from a player you would expect to experience the most rust. Greg Niewieroski, who sat out the most of the 2006 season due to a head injury, had two goals and an assist for the Orange against Hofstra, including the game-winner. Niewieroski added another goal against Le Moyne.

‘I felt pretty good, but I’m a little upset about the outcome of the game,’ Niewieroski said. ‘I thought we could’ve played a little better.’

The goal by Niewieroski negated a mistake made by another player who missed all of last season. Hofstra tied the game for the last time after SU senior captain Greg Rommel, who was sidelined during the previous season with a broken thumb, whiffed on catching an open pass. The Pride then scooped up the ground ball and scored on an easy transition goal.

Rommel’s mistake, more so than Niewieroski’s strong play, typified the way Syracuse played Sunday.

The oft-criticized Syracuse defense handled the Hofstra and Le Moyne attack relatively well when compared to the mistakes the offense made in transition. However, the defense did not particularly shine either, especially in man-down situations. Le Moyne and Hofstra combined for six man-up goals.

It was difficult to judge the defense because of all the extra pressure put on it as a result of the offense’s slip-ups.

‘You can’t be upset because there are a lot of new guys out there seeing things for the first time, playing the corner the first time,’ sophomore Peter Coluccini said. ‘But I thought, with some mental lapses here and there, but I thought our defense did well on 6-on-6 – at least better than last year.’

Syracuse’s offense impressed at times – most notably during the second half against e Moyne when both teams pulled their starting goalies in favor of backups.

Le Moyne jumped to an 8-5 lead in the second half after leading 5-4 at halftime. Less than a minute later the Orange had knotted up the game at 8.

Once the goalies had time to settle down the scoring stopped except for the Le Moyne’s game-winner with 1:07 remaining.

Despite the bright spots, shoddy play highlighted Syracuse’s performance throughout the scrimmages. The Orange knew it displayed more negatives than positives in its first games of the year. Now Syracuse hopes that the scrimmages will serve as no more than a good learning experience than a sign of the future.

‘(It’s the) first real scrimmage of the year,’ Niewieroski said. ‘There’s always the possibility there’s going to be turnovers and what not but it’s unacceptable. We need to turn it around and practice hard this week so we can get on the right track.’

Published on February 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm