Sol Bliss never experienced halftime festivities of a Syracuse men’s lacrosse game. So when it came time for him – and the rest of the 2003 SU lacrosse graduates – to be honored during the intermission, excuse him for not knowing how to act.

Bliss and six other teammates from last year’s SU lacrosse team were honored in a halftime ceremony that afforded the players a chance reunion but also an opportunity to grab some nachos at the concession stand.

‘It’s difficult to watch,’ Bliss said, shortly after receiving the customary SU blanket award to graduated seniors. ‘It’s emotional. I’ve never seen a halftime. When you’re playing, you don’t get to be a part of it.’

Bliss, Mike Smith, Mike Springer, Liam Banks, Brett Walther, Bill Perritt and Pat Hogan were among the players honored. The only player not to attend the ceremony was Matt Bontaites, who was in California.

SU head coach John Desko said the current Orangemen would get a chance to see their old teammates after the game.

‘We haven’t seen some of them since the Final Four last year,’ senior midfielder Sean Lindsay said, ‘so it will be good to catch up and see how those guys are doing.’

Bliss and Bontaites are both playing professional lacrosse, Bliss on the Rochester franchise of the Major League Lacrosse, and Bontaites on the San Jose Stealth of the National Lacrosse League.

Bliss said he, Springer and Banks also moonlight as high school lacrosse coaches. Saturday marked the second time Bliss was in Syracuse. He said he visited practice a couple weeks ago. But it was his first meeting with a lot of his old teammates since last season, when the Orangemen lost to Johns Hopkins in the national semifinals.

‘It’s good to see a lot of the guys haven’t changed,’ Bliss said. ‘We’re just as good friends as Memorial Day last year. And that’s how it’s going to be forever.’

Face time

Five months and 30 minutes of lacrosse wasn’t enough for Desko to be able to choose a face-off specialist. But when junior middie Geoff Keough trotted out to take the first draw in the second half, Desko had found his man.

Keough took over for Jake Plunket, who had struggled in the first half, and won 22 of 29 face-offs.

After the game, Desko didn’t deem the competition between Keough and Plunket closed. He said Keough would most likely start against Virginia but hinted that Plunket should receive some playing time.

‘(Keough) helped us quite a bit today,’ Desko said. ‘We had been searching for someone to step up for us. We gave Jake enough opportunities and it didn’t seem to be as good a matchup as it was for Geoff.’

The new guy

Five thousand screaming fans can make a freshman a little nervous in his first game. So it was understandable that it took heralded freshman Steven Panarelli a little extra time to feel comfortable on Saturday.

Once the jitters were gone though, Panarelli ignited Syracuse and showed glimpses of why he’s perhaps one of the most talented freshmen in the country.

‘To be honest with you,’ Panarelli said, ‘I was a little nervous. You get taken aback by the crowd when you first walk out and put on the Orange jersey.’

Panarelli saw most of his action in the second half on the wing, rushing in on face-offs and attempting to scoop up ground balls. He registered nine in the game, but it was his tally five minutes into the second half that brought the Carrier Dome crowd to its feet.

Panarelli, a longstick defenseman, scampered almost 60 yards before unleashing a shot past Army goaltender Matt Darak. The freshman stopped at the 15-yard line and thrust his hands into the air before being mobbed by his teammates.

‘Steve Panarelli scoring a goal? Are you kidding me?’ senior Michael Powell said. ‘You can’t ask for a better first game.’

Said Lindsay: ‘That definitely gave us a lot of momentum. Any time a defenseman gets the ball upfield and scores, it’s going to uplift you a little bit.’

Back in black

For a second, it seemed Powell had switched sports. With his black turf shoes and black socks, Powell could have doubled as a member of Michigan basketball’s Fab Five, which donned the all-black footwear on way to a 1992 title-game appearance.

Powell would have fit in perfectly if his blue lacrosse shorts were only four inches longer.

Wearing black Jordan’s and black socks embroidered with ’22,’ Powell scored three goals and notched five assists.

‘I see a lot of white shoes out there,’ Powell said. ‘It’s just another thing to single me out just in case the defense doesn’t know who I am.’

This and that

Despite scoring 15 goals, the referees warned Army’s offense for stalling. … Hofstra transfer Kevin Dougherty made his first appearance as an Orangeman and had two assists. … Carrier Dome public address announcer Carl Eilenberg struggled to pronounce Quinnipiac when announcing the out-of-town scoreboard. ‘Quinni…Quinn,’ he said. ‘It starts with a Q. Princeton beat that team, 19-10.’

Published on September 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm