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BIG EAST Trailblazers
Syracuse faced a new challenge as it entered the 2010 season. In addition to trying for a 12th national championship and its second “three-peat,” the Orange needed to navigate a conference schedule for the first time with the formation of the BIG EAST men’s lacrosse league. Although the Orange came up short in the NCAA Tournament, it blazed a trail in the BIG EAST. The Orange went 6-0 in conference play to win the inaugural regular-season title. It averaged 14.5 goals per game against its BIG EAST brethren and outscored its league foes, 87-41.Overall, the Orange posted a 13-2 record. Both of its losses were by one goal, including a 9-8 double-OT defeat against Army in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the Carrier Dome.
Despite the early postseason exit, SU was the most individually recognized team in college lacrosse. The Orange led the nation with 10 All-Americans and eight players received all-conference plaudits. Of that group, John Lade, John Galloway and Joel White received first-team All-America honors, as well as being named first-team All-BIG EAST. White was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy as national player of the year. Galloway was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and led the nation with a 7.16 goals-against average.
BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year Chris Daniello paced the offense with 53 points, including 28 goals, on his way to third-team All-America honors. Stephen Keogh scored a team-best 31 goals to earn honorable mention All-America status for the second straight year.
THOU SHALL NOT SCORE
Boasting four All-Americans, the Orange sported the nation’s best scoring defense for the first time since the NCAA began tracking the national leaders in 1996. Syracuse allowed 7.4 goals per game in its 15 contests. Only twice during the season did a team manage to dent the Orange defense for more than 10 goals.
Syracuse excelled in man-down situations, holding its opponents to just 15 extra-man goals and ranking fifth in the country in man-down defense. The Orange was also one of the top riding teams in the nation. Opponents converted on just 77.3 percent of their clearing opportunities for the season.
The cornerstone of the group was Galloway. His 144 saves and 7.16 goals-against average helped him become the first netminder in school history to win the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Award as the nation’s most outstanding goalie.
The trio of Matt Tierney, Lade, and rookie Brian Megill on close defense may have been the nation’s best. Tierney earned third-team All-America honors and developed into of the one country’s best cover guys. Lade routinely intercepted passes and finished second on the team with 22 caused turnovers despite missing three games due to injury. Megill’s consistency made him a lineup mainstay. He started all 15 games to become one of the few freshmen to see extended minutes on defense since head coach John Desko took over the program in 1999.
In the midfield, White stole the show. He became the first defensive specialist to win the Lt. Donald C. MacLaughlin Jr. Award as the nation’s most outstanding midfielder. White paced the Orange in ground balls (78) and caused turnovers (31). He was a terror in transition, scoring six goals and assisting on four more, to evolve into one of the best all-around players in the game.
The unit propelled the Orange to 13 regular-season victories and frequently kept the opposition at bay until the offense had an opportunity to put games out of reach.
THE REGULAR SEASON
The Orange opened the year against Denver and new coach Bill Tierney at the Carrier Dome on Feb.19. Cody Jamieson, hero of the 2009 NCAA title game, picked up where he left off, leading the Orange with four goals in a 15-9 win. Syracuse faced a tough Army team in its second game, but eventually pulled away for a 12-7 triumph behind four goals from Daniello and three from Keogh.
The first true test of the season came on the road against rival Virginia. A crowd of 7,501 watched the top two ranked teams in the nation battle it out. Trailing 10-6 with only 13:46 left, the Orange rallied to make it an 11-10 game and had possession with less than a minute to go. But a turnover gave the ball back to the Cavaliers and they wasted the remaining seconds to hand the Orange its first loss.
There was no time to dwell on the defeat. The following week, Syracuse was back in front of its home crowd to play Georgetown in its inaugural BIG EAST Conference game. Keogh poured in four goals in a span of 7:29, to help stake the Orange to an 11-7 lead. However the feisty Hoyas made a game of it, trimming the margin to 12-11 with 7:36 left. Needing a spark, Syracuse turned to Jeremy Thompson who won the ensuing faceoff and scored unassisted to ignite a three-goal run that sealed the game.
Back on the winning track, the Orange visited Johns Hopkins for its first-ever night game at Homewood Field. After allowing more than 10 goals in consecutive outings, the Syracuse defense needed to raise its level of play against the Blue Jays. And that’s exactly what it did.
Johns Hopkins went scoreless for the first 17:45 of the game and the Orange helped itself to a 5-1 halftime lead. The Blue Jays went a stretch of 23 more minutes between quarters two and three without a goal and Syracue pushed its advantage to 8-1. Hopkins finally fired back with four straight goals to cut the lead to 8-5. But Syracuse held off the Blue Jays down the stretch for its first road win of the year, 10-7.
A short trip to Geneva, N.Y. for a matchup with Hobart on March 23 tested the team’s resiliency. The score was 6-4 in favor of the Statesmen heading into the final quarter, but Syracuse notched its third straight win, prevailing in overtime, 9-8, on a goal by Keogh.
The Orange extended its winning streak to five with dominating home wins over Villanova (20-6) and Albany (15-8) on March 29 and April 3, respectively. The Albany victory marked the 800th all-time win for the SU program, making it just the second Division I school to reach that milestone.
Following the homestand, the Orange squad made some more history. Syracuse took part in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic, the first sporting event at New Meadowlands Stadium. The Orange faced Princeton before a regular-season lacrosse-only record crowd of 25,710 fans. Syracuse did not dissapoint. It used a 9-0 run, fueled by four Jamieson goals, to tame the fifth-ranked Tigers, 13-4.
Three days later, the Orange faced Cornell on the road in a rematch of the 2009 NCAA championship game. Despite doubling up the Big Red in shots 40-20, outstanding play from Cornell goalkeeper AJ Fiore had the Big Red up 7-5 with 9:11 to play.
Goals by Jovan Miller and Tim Desko evened the low-scoring affair. Then, with less than a minute to play, a ground ball pick-up and clear by White gave the Orange possession. Fiore stoned Jamieson with three seconds left on his drive to the cage and the game seemed destined for overtime. But Daniello collected the ground ball and fired it into the net as time expired for Syracuse’s seventh straight win.
The Cornell game was the team’s last non-conference contest of the year. The Orange finished the regular-season with four BIG EAST contests. A six-point night from Daniello led the team to an 11-5 victory at Rutgers on April 18. Providence came to town for the last home game of the regular season on April 24. The senior class went out with a bang as Daniello, Jamieson and Max Bartig combined for 12 points in a 14-5 handling of the Friars.
The Orange captured a share of the inaugural BIG EAST Conference regular-season championship the following week against Notre Dame in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,063 at Arlotta Stadium. Keogh led the Orange offense with four goals. Defensively, Syracuse kept the Fighting Irish at bay and emerged with a 12-6 victory.
In the regular-season finale, the Orange clinched the conference regular-season championship outright with a 15-7 win at St. John’s. The vicory was a true team effort. Nine different Orange players scored goals, led by Daniello’s four tallies.
THE POSTSEASON
A 13-1 regular-season record, including 11 straight wins following its loss to Virginia in early March, earned the Orange the No. 2 seed in the NCAA playoffs. When the tournament bracket was revealed Syracuse found itself facing a familiar opponent — Army. The red-hot Black Knights were the Patriot League champions and were not intimidated playing in the Dome where the Orange was 22-1 in postseason games.
Syracuse jumped out to a 5-1 lead and another trip to the NCAA quarterfinals seemed likely. But six second-quarter Orange turnovers helped Army close the gap to 6-4 at halftime. Jamieson pushed the lead to 7-4 early in the third period, only to have Army’s Sean O’Sullivan and Garrett Thul score to make it a one goal game, 7-6, heading into the fourth quarter.
Keogh netted the 100th goal of his career with 12:05 left to make it 8-6 Syracuse. But his tally proved to be the team’s final goal.
Two fourth-quarter goals by Army tied the game and forced overtime. After two unsettled chances went by the boards in the first OT, Syracuse squandered two more offensive possessions in the game’s second overtime. That set the stage for Army’s Devin Lynch who scored with 5.7 seconds to lift the Blacks Knights to a 9-8 win. It was SU’s first postseason loss since 2006 and just its second NCAA defeat in the Carrier Dome.
The Army loss was an unsatisfying and unexpected end to the season. It was the first time any member of the roster experienced postseason defeat. Nevertheless, the 2010 Orange put together a successful campaign by most standards. The team inked a new chapter in SU’s history by winning the inaugural BIG EAST title and several players secured their places among the nation’s elite.
