2007 Season Review
ROMMEL NAMED SU LACROSSE'S FIRST ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANGreg Rommel was named to the ESPN The Magazine Men’s At-Large Academic All-America Third Team following the 2007 season. Rommel is the first men’s lacrosse player in school history to earn national academic All-America honors. During his career, Rommel was also a three-time, first-team academic all-district choice.
Rommel started all 13 games in the midfield for the Orange. He tallied 15 goals and six assists for 21 points in 2007, and paced SU with four man-up goals. Off the field, he was one of 10 finalists for the first Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for lacrosse and was a Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup honorable mention honoree. In addition, he participated in a variety of community service events, including an appearance at Morgan Road Elementary School to help students string lacrosse sticks and SU’s equipment and canned food drive, which benefited the Syracuse Boys and Girls Club and the Food Bank of Central New York.
Rommel was one of seven lacrosse players from around the country to be named to one of the three ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America At-Large teams. Mitch Belisle (Cornell), Nick Bonacci (Dartmouth), and Matt McMonagle (Cornell) were picked to the first team. Ed Douglas (Duke) was selected to the second team, and Rommel, Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins) and Ben Rubeor (Virginia) were third-team choices.
ALL-AMERICA TRADITION CONTINUES
Attackman Mike Leveille and midfielders Dan Hardy and Steven Brooks were tabbed 2007 All-Americans by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA). All three players were honorable mention selections. It was the third straight honorable mention nod for Leveille, and the first time Hardy and Brooks have earned All-America status.
Leveille started all 13 games and led Syracuse in scoring (39 points) and assists (17). He also tied for the team lead with 22 goals. In the Orange’s upset of No. 2 Albany, Leveille registered a career-best seven points (five goals, two assists) to help hand the Great Danes their first loss of the year.
Hardy split time between attack and midfield.He started 12 games on the year and began the 2007 campaign with a bang, scoring a career-best five points (three goals, two assists) in SU’s win against Hobart. Hardy tied Leveille for the team lead in goals (22) and added 10 assists for a total of 32 points on the season. He registered four hat tricks, including two in the Orange’s final three games.
Brooks started 12 games for SU in the midfield. The junior scored 19 goals and also dished out seven assists after missing almost all of 2006 due to injury. He tied Hardy for the team lead with four three-plus goal games and scored at least three times in consecutive contests versus Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Binghamton. Brooks set a career high with four goals against the Hoyas and Bearcats.
SU’s three selections marks the 29th straight year the Orange has had at least three players earn All-America honors. The Orange has boasted at least two All-Americans in every season dating back to 1977.
LEVEILLE EXTENDS SCORING STREAK TO 39 GAMES
Mike Leveille finished the 2007 season on a 39-game point scoring streak, the fourth-longest such streak in Division I behind Canisius’ Kevin Ross, Frank Resetarits of Albany, and Duke’s Matt Danowksi. Ross and Resetarits were seniors in 2007 and completed their eligibility, which means Leveille will begin 2008 with the second-longest streak behind Danowski’s 42 straight games.
The only time Leveille has failed to register at least one point in his career was on March 5, 2005 (vs. Virginia) - a span of more than two years. Leveille has notched multiple points 34 times during the streak and 130 of his 132 career points have come during this 39-game stretch.
PANARELLI REPRESENTS ORANGE AT NORTH/SOUTH GAME
Syracuse defender Steven Panarelli competed for the North squad in the 66th annual USILA North/South Senior All-Star Game. The game pitted a team of seniors from Division I and II Northern schools against a group of Division I and II seniors from Southern institutions at Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore during championship weekend.
Panarelli’s inclusion marked the 30th straight year the Orange was represented in the North/South contest. At least one SU senior has played in the event every season since 1977.
ORANGE BOASTS TOP FACEOFF DUO
The combination of Jon Jerome and Danny Brennan proved difficult for opponents to beat at the faceoff X. The duo became the first in Syracuse history to each win better than 60 percent of their draws in the same year. Jerome ranked fifth nationally in faceoff winning percentage (115-184, .625), while Brennan finished with a mark of .607 (88-145), good for 11th. The Orange was the only Division I team to have two players in the top 15.
