Greg Rommel knew at Media Day that suffering injuries is inevitable. But with this year’s depth, the senior midfielder was confident if any player were to fall to injury, there would be someone ready to take his place.

That is the case early in the season at midfield. Greg Niewieroski, Greg Rommel and Steven Brooks have suffered injuries. When the Orange faces Georgetown at 7 p.m. Friday at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse will have a midfield without three experienced players.

Rommel suffered a right thumb injury after being checked during the Virginia game last Saturday. Brooks sprained his left knee in the first quarter against Army on Feb. 25. Niewieroski had an undisclosed injury before SU’s first scrimmage against Fairfield on Feb. 6.

SU head coach John Desko and assistant coach Kevin Donahue couldn’t evaluate the status of Rommel and Brooks, but Desko said neither would play on Friday. Rommel and Brooks did not attend practice on Wednesday.

Donahue hinted Niewieroski will return and said the coaching staff is planning to move him to attack. During his freshman year, Niewieroski played both attack and midfield, making his first start against Rutgers at attack after Desko moved Brian Crockett to midfield.

With Niewieroski, Rommel and Brooks out against Virginia, freshmen Dan Hardy and Pat Perritt filled in the spots to assist Crockett. Hardy posted two goals while Crockett scored one in SU’s 20-15 loss to the Cavaliers.

Desko isn’t hesitant to emphasize younger players who are playing impressive enough to step in at midfield. Matt Abbott scored a pair of goals against Army, and Desko mentioned sophomore Brendan Loftus could see significant playing time against the Hoyas because GU’s tendency to play on the perimeter could be matched by Loftus’ strength to play on the wing.

But Desko liked the strength his original midfield brought because it could exploit short stick defensemen while the long stick defender would have to key in on a particular player. He admitted SU will miss the veteran experience Rommel and Brooks provide.

‘It has helped having other players we feel can compete to put in,’ Desko said. ‘(But) we had originally planned on mixing and matching our youth and our experience throughout the year. But now we have to rely on going without the experience and the age, and going with the youth. They’re going to make mistakes.’

It’s almost inevitable for that to happen, but Desko said the veteran midfielders demonstrated to the freshman in practice how to properly play the position before the injuries occurred. He also said the veterans anticipated mistakes before the freshmen made them.

Hardy in particular said he emulates Crockett’s playing style at midfield. He doesn’t think Crockett barks too many orders but instead just plays the position well so others will follow.

‘They weren’t really showing us any moves, in particular,’ Hardy said. ‘They told us some things to help us out a little bit and (they) motivated us. They let us know we can play with everyone and that we shouldn’t be afraid at all.’

Hardy said one strength with the midfield is the coaching staff shuffles players between the first, second and third unit. Any time those changes have been made between the lineups, Hardy said the players have felt comfortable with each other’s tendencies.

But when it comes down to it, the only way for the inexperienced midfielders to overcome any learning curve is to step foot on the field. Considering the injuries, they don’t really have a choice.

‘The younger guys have a lot of talent,’ Donahue said. ‘The biggest thing the younger guys need is experience. We do the same things in practice that we expect to have in the games.’

Published on March 11, 2006 at 12:00 pm