Four months before the 2005 men’s lacrosse season gets under way, it would be foolish and even counterproductive to speculate how Syracuse, the 2004 NCAA Division I champions, will build on last year’s success.

But at least the Pumpkin Stick-Out provided a glimpse.

Syracuse swept its competition in the 10th annual Pumpkin Stick-Out at Coyne Field on Sunday, defeating NCAA Division II champion Le Moyne, 7-4. The Orange also picked up an 11-4 win over Herkimer and a 10-6 victory over Dartmouth.

The wonderment over if SU can produce a Michael Powell replacement on the offensive end was unanswered. But there were signs that the offense has the potential to produce.

‘We want to be balanced,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘We’re not going to have a go-to guy.’

There were plenty of guys, including freshmen, to whom SU turned Sunday. Freshmen Greg Niewieroski, Mike Leveille, Mike Hatton, Jamie Ireland, Chris Greenman and Steve Babbles all scored goals.

That was showcased early in the opening game against the Dolphins. Off a pass from junior attack Brian Crockett, Niewieroski nailed a shot for the early 1-0 lead with 24:20 remaining. Minutes later, Leveille navigated the perimeter before hurling the stick over his left shoulder to net it in for the 2-0 lead.

‘I’ve been working hard,’ Leveille said. ‘We’ve all been working hard. It’s going real well. There are a lot of us and a lot of talent between us. The chemistry with each other places us in a whole other level right now.’

The Orange picked up three more goals to establish a commanding tempo, but Le Moyne tallied three goals in the final five minutes to reduce the gap to 5-3. Though SU didn’t showcase an offensive surge in the second half, it still maintained tempo to hold off Le Moyne the rest of the way.

The tournament is designed to get as many players in as possible. So it is no surprise there were multiple scorers involved.

‘That’s what’s great about having a tournament like this,’ Desko said. ‘We have the fall to make them feel pretty good about themselves.’

SU also has reason to feel good, considering it showcased something different Sunday. Two days before the tournament, the Orange ended in an 11-11 tie with Loyola in a scrimmage. In that contest, SU looked raw, providing glimpses of talent but lacking certain fundamentals, including intermittently collapsing defenses and bad passes.

Sunday was a different story. In the contests against Le Moyne and Herkimer, the Orange immediately took control of the game on both ends. In the Herkimer game, the Orange jumped out to a 3-0 lead under seven minutes into the half.

Against Dartmouth, however, both squads played tit-for-tat, trading goals for most of the first half. SU broke a 3-3 tie when Crockett zipped a pass from behind the goal to Hatton for the wide-open score with 16 minutes remaining. Near the draw of the half, junior midfielder Greg Rommel weaved in and out of the attack zone to confuse the Dartmouth defense. It worked. Rommel nailed a shot with five seconds left in the first half.

Despite this high level of scoring, Desko is relying more on his squad’s defense than its offense.

‘We overcame some of the defensive mistakes (against Loyola) by knocking the ball away and creating offense with our defense,’ Desko said.

Published on October 11, 2004 at 12:00 pm