By Zach BermanAsst. Sports Editor

BALTIMORE – It only took 15 minutes. Not even a full half. Just a quarter.

Syracuse is almost six hours from Baltimore, but the fate of the SU men’s lacrosse team trip to Johns Hopkins was determined in 15 minutes. The No. 13 Blue Jays scored seven first quarter goals, pacing them to a 14-9 win over No. 10 Syracuse at Homewood Field.

Johns Hopkins – often a conservative, defensive-oriented team – showed it can score, too. The defending national champions only mustered a combined eight first quarter goals in its four previous games. But Johns Hopkins compromised on a pace with the Orange, leading to the seven-goal barrage that set SU back with its third consecutive loss. It’s the second straight season Syracuse has opened 1-3 after avoiding that dubious start since 1975.

Johns Hopkins, the defending national champions, was coming off an embarrassing loss to upstart Hofstra last week. The Blue Jays (2-2) spent the week preparing not just for rival Syracuse, but re-discovering the form which has propelled the storied program to 36 Final Fours.

On the other sideline, SU, the 2004 national champions, were also in an uncharacteristic slump after falling to Virginia and Georgetown. It’s necessary, albeit obvious, to state that both teams needed a win.

‘Right off in a game like this, Syracuse-Hopkins, you’re going to get the best of both teams,’ senior midfielder Brett Bucktooth said. ‘Our offense might have forced some things. We were anxious, excited. We wanted to make things happen, but things weren’t going our way. Especially with Hopkins going up three or four goals, one after another.’

Syracuse engineered an impressive comeback – particularly in the third quarter, when it scored four goals in four minutes – but despite a shift in momentum, it couldn’t orchestrate a shift of the lead. The first quarter deficit was too much to overcome, crippling an SU squad that is becoming all to used to slow starts.

Sophomore attackman Mike Leveille netted three goals, two of which came during the third quarter rally. He also assisted one of senior Joe Yevoli’s two goals. Seniors Brett Bucktooth and Brian Crockett also scored for the Orange.

‘We ended the first half with a little bit of confidence,’ Yevoli said. ‘That carried us into the second half. Our offense, we knew we could take them and we could put points on the board. It was just a matter of doing it. We started doing it, but it was too little, too late.’

Desko cited the faceoff disparity as one of the reasons for the loss. Hopkins won 18 faceoffs. The Orange only captured eight. It didn’t help that the Orange lost one of its top faceoff men, John Carozza, on a first-quarter hit by Johns Hopkins defender Matt Nader.

Desko also credited Johns Hopkins midfielder Paul Rabil, who scored four goals, for his work on the faceoffs. Rabil was complemented by attackman Kevin Huntley, who netted five goals.

‘When you give a team like the Blue Jays that many opportunities on the offensive end,’ Desko said, ‘that’s putting too much pressure on our defense and an inexperienced goaltender.’

SU goalie Peter Coluccini didn’t play poorly in his fourth start, though he was bombarded with shots. He recorded 11 saves. The problem was Johns Hopkins attempted 25 shots on goal. It attempted 34 shots altogether, 11 of which came in the decisive first quarter. Considering seven went in, it was a quarter that ended up plaguing SU’s hopes for a win against the defending champs.

‘They had a lot of good looks and there were probably some shots I should have stopped,’ Coluccini said. ‘But I can’t go back and say I should have stopped it because a goal’s a goal. But they had a lot of good looks and time of possession. It’s something we have to work on. We can’t let a team go on a run like that for a quarter and expect to climb right back into the game.’

Published on March 18, 2006 at 12:00 pm