Kyle Guadgnolo and Sid Smith walked toward John Galloway early in the second period Saturday, the two defenseman looking to bolster the freshman goalie.

Nothing else seemed to be working in the Syracuse men’s lacrosse scrimmage against Harvard, so the defensemen offered Galloway what they could: a fist bump to boost his confidence.

Galloway had just allowed another goal to Harvard’s Jason Duboe, the team’s fifth and the player’s fourth. The Crimson led by three at that point.

A combination of things had John Desko’s team off-kilter, the head coach said afterward: too many turnovers and maybe too much emotion, considering the atmosphere.

Saturday was Laxapalooza at the Carrier Dome, sponsored by Syracuse women’s lacrosse coach Gary Gait and featuring lacrosse clinics and a performance by Orange legend Mikey Powell’s band.

The Orange, it seemed, was caught up in the moment.

Senior defenseman Evan Brady arrived to Galloway last after the fifth goal, touched gloves with the goalie and joined his defensive mates. They turned and looked out toward midfield, ready for the next faceoff.

Then the team never looked back.

Matt Abbott scored soon after, then freshman Stephen Keogh, then junior Kenny Nims. The Orange wracked up eight unanswered goals in all and took a lead it never relinquished in a 14-9 victory over the Crimson.

‘We got off to a slow start, and we weren’t happy with it,’ said senior attack Mike Leveille. ‘But we knew that if we kept running our stuff and ran it a little better, it would come together.’

It did.

Junior midfielders Matt Abbott and Dan Hardy each put up hat tricks, while Leveille picked up four assists. Hardy had two assists as well, the standout in the team’s strong offensive performance.

The 8-0 run was not a sudden burst, but a steady attack sustained during the second and third period. The Orange was consistent in its approach, shooting the ball 55 times during the game, enough to crack the Crimson defense.

By the midpoint of the third quarter, SU had taken command. The way things were rolling for the Orange, everything seemed to break its way.

Leading 8-5 in the third, freshman Josh Amidon ripped a shot off the goal post, which bounced right back toward him. He spun and found Leveille, who flicked the ball inside to Hardy for an easy score.

Amidon filled in on the first line for senior Steven Brooks, who sat out with an undisclosed injury. Desko said the injury was not related to his back, which the senior had surgery on during the offseason.

‘(Amidon and Brooks) are both big lefties, so it kind of keeps that group the same too, if you substitute one lefty for another,’ Abbott said. ‘So it was a smart switch.”

It was a ‘Final Four’ atmosphere, Desko said, and he was glad his team responded to the adversity. After the game, kids poured onto the field as both men’s and women’s lacrosse players worked with them.

‘I think the emotion at the start of the scrimmage, guys got caught up in it,’ Desko said afterward as Mikey Powell and the Villains Trust blared behind him. ‘And as we settled down and started to execute better offensively, we were able to put the points up. And the defense settled down as well.’

Still, there are questions to be answered for the Orange before it heads into the season-opener at home on Saturday against Villanova. The goalie situation remains a debate: Galloway played the entire first half, with junior and two-year starter Pete Coluccini playing the third period and parts of the fourth.

Al Calavieri and Nathan Farabee split the rest of the time in net, including a 10-minute extra period.

But Desko was still undecided after the game on who the starter will be.

Then there is the shot differential: The Orange gave up nine goals on 22 shots, while scoring just 14 on 55 shots. It’s something they hope to improve on as the season begins.

‘We’re getting a lot of chances,’ Leveille said. ‘We need to do a better job of finishing it. It’s two weeks in a row that we felt that way. But the important thing is we’re getting chances.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on February 10, 2008 at 12:00 pm