Jeremy Thompson won the faceoff, and he was off to the races.

Seconds later, a streaking Thompson found Tim Desko right in front of the goal to give SU its second goal in its scrimmage against Hofstra Sunday afternoon.

Sometimes on Sunday, it was that easy. Other times, SU’s midfield struggled to handle the simplest passes in its transition attack. After the scrimmages against Hofstra and Le Moyne, the Orange midfield had some moments of brilliance and other moments it’d rather forget.

‘We’re young, we’re inexperienced,’ said Joel White, one of SU’s few midfield holdovers from the 2009 season. ‘It’s just getting some game experience in at this point.’

Syracuse head coach John Desko knows his brand-new midfield needs a couple of games to mesh together. Sunday’s scrimmages were the unit’s first in-game experience with each other.

After the loss of stellar midfielders Matt Abbott, Dan Hardy and Pat Perritt, all eyes were on that position to see how the new personnel would perform in its first games.

Thompson was one of the bright spots on the day. The Onondaga Community College transfer scored twice and added an assist in the two games, also standing out in faceoff situations.

‘I have a pretty good background in the faceoff circle,’ Thompson said. ‘So I’m pretty confident when I go out there and take draws. Overall, I just go out and do whatever I can do.’

Thompson’s performance also had his head coach raving about his capabilities on the lacrosse field.

‘I thought Jeremy Thompson did a great job facing off for us,’ Desko said. ‘He played some good offense for us, too.’

Also shining for the Orange on the second midfield line was freshman JoJo Marasco, who made his much-anticipated debut on Sunday. He scored a goal and had an assist in the two games, spending time with both the first and second lines as the Orange mixed and matched its midfield tandems.

After the game, Desko wouldn’t say whether Marasco would be starting on the first or second line come the team’s opening game against Denver on Feb. 19, but he did like what he saw on Sunday.

‘He’s certainly a very good player,’ Desko said. ‘He’s got very good athletic ability, good quickness, good change of direction. Whether he’s starting or not, he’s going to be playing a lot of lacrosse for us this year.’

But with the ups came the downs as well. SU’s offense in general was a bit sluggish in its first scrimmage against Hofstra, and the midfield contributed to the effort with sloppy, forced passes.

But it’s something SU captain White thinks will only get better as the team spends more and more time together on the field.

‘I think we’re going to continue to get better,’ White said. ‘The upperclassmen, including myself, are going to help bring the underclassmen along. And I think we’ll be fine.’

Getting defensive

The other area of concern beyond the midfield is the replacement of All-American defenseman Sid Smith.

Defenders John Lade and Matt Tierney return to their starting spots for the Orange, so the focus was on the open third spot, which seems to have a trio of worthy contenders.

Tom Guadagnolo started the game with the first line, but Brandon Conlin and Brian Megill rotated in and out with that line as well. Desko didn’t tell Guadagnolo he would be starting until minutes before the team’s scrimmage against Hofstra.

And after the game, there was still no word as to who might be the one to try to fill Smith’s shoes.

‘We’re going to have to watch the film,’ Desko said. ‘That’s what today was for, to see how these guys would do in a game situation.’

For Conlin, it doesn’t matter who will be at the starting spot come the team’s opening regular-season game against Denver. He thinks he and his two other teammates vying for the starting spot will each play important roles in the team’s defensive fortunes this season.

‘I think it’s pretty much up in the air right now,’ Conlin said. ‘I feel I played pretty well today, but I think we all played pretty well today. It’s going to come down to the wire, I guess.’

The longest day

It was an unusual day for anyone involved in the three-team Syracuse, Hofstra and Le Moyne scrimmage on Sunday. The entire ordeal lasted for almost six hours, as the three squads played a round-robin contest.

The atypical format led to a long day for all of the players involved.

‘It was pretty tough going into about the third quarter of the second scrimmage,’ Conlin said. ‘Your back starts tightening up. I know a lot of the middies were dragging toward the end because they’ve been running up and down the field all day.’

It was especially difficult for Le Moyne’s players, who were hit with playing the first and last games of the day. They waited about an hour and a half while Syracuse and Hofstra squared off.

‘With that break, Le Moyne probably came out pretty tight,’ Conlin said. ‘That would be really tough to do.’

But players weren’t the only ones feeling the effects of the extended scrimmaging.

Said Desko: ‘My legs are sore from standing on the turf for so long.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on February 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm