Michael Powell’s not one to miss a road trip. So when he couldn’t travel with the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team to Maryland two weekends ago, Powell turned his locker into a pulpit and addressed the team the night before the Orangemen departed.

‘He told us he’d be watching,’ senior midfielder Steve Vallone said. ‘He’s been in the middle, getting everybody going. He’s a leader.’

The only time Powell hasn’t led the Orangemen this fall has been during games. Powell sat out SU’s three scrimmages in Baltimore and will sit out again tomorrow when Syracuse plays Notre Dame, Hofstra and Dartmouth in the Algonquin Cup at Harvard’s Jordan Field in Boston. SU begins its day at 10 a.m. against Notre Dame.

Syracuse head coach John Desko decided not to play Powell, the nation’s Attackman of the Year in each of his first three seasons, to ensure his eligibility come spring. If Powell plays in the fall but becomes ineligible over the winter, he’ll lose his final year of eligibility.

‘It would be silly,’ Desko said. ‘Really an unnecessary risk. I think it’s a little different with him. There aren’t a ton of secrets.’

Desko said not playing Powell is strictly precautionary. Powell has his academics in order and is practicing with the team.

Powell sat out the entire fall season – including practice – last year because he was academically ineligible. To avoid further academic problems, Powell’s main focus has been on schoolwork, not stick work. Powell comes to only a couple practices a week in the name of maintaining his grades.

‘He’s getting here as much as he can,’ said Vallone, who was named a captain earlier this week along with Dan DiPietro, Sean Lindsay and goalie Jay Pfeifer. ‘He’s got to focus on his academics. That’s priority No. 1. It shows that he has a lot of dedication to the team that he’s getting his academics straight so he can be here in the spring.’

When spring comes, Powell will be ready. A senior with more hardware than a Home Depot, Powell can afford to miss some of the fall. Still, he’s worked to ingratiate himself into this season’s team.

‘You can tell he wants to be out here,’ Vallone said. ‘Without going to the tournaments, he’s still trying to be the focal point of the team.’

This weekend, SU’s focal point will be finalizing its rotation as it finishes the fall season. The Orangemen need to find out who will replace Mike Springer’s 60 points and Sol Bliss’s defensive leadership.

Brian Crockett or Zack Wallace appear poised to join Powell and Brian Nee on SU’s first attack. Likely filling in for Bliss will be Steve Panerelli, a freshman from Massapequa.

‘He’s a talent,’ Desko said. ‘It’s just a matter of getting him into our system. He’s fit in pretty nicely so far. He’s an excellent athlete.’

The replacements will be tested against the toughest competition SU’s faced this fall. Hofstra downed SU last year, and Dartmouth was two goals away from knocking Syracuse out of last year’s NCAA tournament in the first round.

But last year’s games won’t be motivation for the weekend, only a fall tournament.

‘We need to worry about ourselves and not get caught up in the emotion of payback,’ Desko said. ‘If we were thinking like that, we’d bring Mike Powell down.’

Instead, the Orangemen are taking a more sensible approach, letting Powell practice until spring, when he’ll turn from locker room orator to director of SU’s dynamic attack.

‘When spring comes around, I expect him to be there every day,’ Vallone said. ‘I don’t doubt anything he brings to table. He’ll have his academics set and he’ll be busting ass like everybody else.’

Published on October 16, 2003 at 12:00 pm