GENEVA – It started with a speech. Or, more accurately, a profanity-laced tirade. A much-needed one, too, because, for the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team, last night’s game felt like Hobart’s AstroTurf field — cold and sloppy.

The speech, delivered at halftime by attacker Liam Banks, ignited the No. 3 Orangemen, who used 11 second-half goals to snatch a 15-12 victory from the jaws of embarrassing defeat to unranked Hobart.

Syracuse (4-2) had beaten Hobart in 16 consecutive games, including a 19-4 win at the Carrier Dome last season. But yesterday, the Statesmen (4-2) hung tough, patiently controlling the ball while the Orangemen threw it away.

By halftime, with Syracuse trailing, 6-4, Banks had seen enough.

‘Fortunately, I just got to go out there and show some leadership,’ Banks said. ‘We needed someone to light a fire under our asses.’

Banks — who led Syracuse on the field, too, with six points (two goals, four assists) — did just that, lacing into his team as it huddled under a cold rain near the Syracuse bench.

Fitting, because the Syracuse sticks were ice cold in the first half. The Orangemen rarely even held the ball, mustering only 12 first-half shots compared to the Statesmen’s 25.

Syracuse also trailed twice by four goals. At 10:54 of the second quarter, Hobart opened a 5-1 lead on a Nate Hill goal. Two minutes later, after Syracuse got a goal from midfielder Steve Vallone, Hobart’s Sean Kent made it 6-2.

Vallone and Hobart attacker John Bogosian led their respective teams with five goals each.

‘We definitely came out flat,’ SU backup faceoff man Jake Plunket said. ‘Someone had to light a fire under us. Liam is one of the leaders. He said, ‘We’re not going to lose to this team.’ He has his ways. He used a little profanity.’

The foul language must have affected Plunket, because he won several second-half faceoffs to key the comeback.

In the first half, Hobart won 6 of 11 draws and picked up 18 ground balls compared to Syracuse’s 11. Plunket responded by opening the second with three consecutive faceoff wins.

Plunket scored, too, with 11:17 left in the third quarter, tying the game at 7. The Statesmen had led since opening the scoring seven-and-a-half minutes into the game.

‘Once in a while you need a spark,’ Plunket said. ‘I guess I was just lucky to be the spark today.’

Plunket’s goal was Syracuse’s third before the second half was four minutes old. But even after a Pat Hogan goal with 5:29 left in the third gave Syracuse a 9-8 lead, its first of the game, the Statesmen refused to quit.

Hobart returned to its ball-control attack that afforded first-half success and scored twice in the third quarter’s last minute. The Statesmen led after the first, second and third quarters.

‘They did a great job controlling the tempo,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘It was really smart coaching.’

Said Hobart coach Matt Kerwick: ‘The guys executed exactly as we had hoped. They took advantage of every opportunity. The game plan was to keep the ball in our sticks. If it’s in our sticks, they can’t score.’

But the Statesmen couldn’t keep the ball from Banks, who set up midfielder Brian Crockett for a goal less than a minute into the fourth quarter to tie the game at 10. The Orangemen outscored Hobart, 6-2, in the fourth, using goals from six different players.

Afterward, the Orangemen needed no profanity. Instead, they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

‘Oh jeez,’ Plunket said. ‘What were we down, 6-2? That’s scary.’

Published on March 25, 2003 at 12:00 pm