Virginia, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Princeton. If you were applying for college admittance to those schools, you’re most likely intelligent. But if you’re vying for the NCAA Tournament in men’s lacrosse against those schools, you’re most likely doomed. Although in the case of SU, it’s been a blessing.

The Syracuse men’s lacrosse program is perhaps the most prestigious in the history of the sport. And it always subscribes to the adage of being the best by beating the best. But this season, the Orange is neither the best nor beating the best. Although on Saturday when it topped Princeton, 7-5, it made a big step.

The Orange could be one of the most talented 3-4 teams ever. The Inside Lacrosse Media Poll shows it – SU is the only losing team ranked in the Top 20. How often do you see a team with a losing record ranked No. 15? And after topping the Tigers, SU’s stock is rising.

Before Wednesday’s practice, SU head coach John Desko talked about scheduling quality opponents and how he prefers better competition and difficult games to lesser competition and easy games.

Princeton head coach Bill Tierney told Desko after the game he feels like they’ve coached against each other 30 times during the past five years. The quip is a tribute to both program’s and both coach’s willingness to play marquee opponents. Between Tierney and Desko, there are 11 head-coaching national titles. They both share the opinion of rising to the top by beating the teams on the top.

SU’s early-season games against No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 Georgetown and No. 7 Johns Hopkins, though losses, are proving invaluable. This team phased in young players – there are five new starters this season, including goalie Pete Coluccini – and the on-the-job training came against the nation’s best teams.

‘Let’s face it: The games that we lost weren’t against bad lacrosse teams,’ Desko said. ‘We played through injuries and some of our guys are starting to come into our own. We’ve had a redshirt freshman goalie who prior to this year had no game experience.

‘If we give these guys more game experience and they get more comfortable out there and they’re improving like they do, and we keep working hard in practice, good things are going to happen.’

The early schedule allowed the freshmen a chance to exhaust their rookie mistakes. After an April 1 win against Loyola, which broke SU’s four-game losing streak, freshman Pat Perritt said it’s time for the freshmen to stop playing like freshmen. Early in the season it was an acceptable excuse. But SU’s more than half-way through. Perritt put his foot down and the results have shown.

Dan Hardy, SU’s top rookie point producer with 11 points, tallied a pair of assists against Princeton. And it wasn’t like the Tigers, which have won six national titles since 1992, instilled any fear in the freshman. He scored two goals and registered an assist against Virginia. He had a goal and an assist against Johns Hopkins.

‘I think it’s better to play tougher teams,’ Hardy said. ‘We can’t take any team lightly, but if we came in playing against easier teams, we’d get more relaxed and not really go as hard we should be going when we play against those bigger teams. Playing against those tougher guys is definitely good.’

In the postgame press conference on Saturday, senior captain Brett Bucktooth started an answer about the team’s resurgence with a qualifier: ‘That’s the thing about Syracuse …’ It’s as if SU lacrosse, with its nine national championships and independent status, has an aura about it where even if it struggles, it has confidence it can bounce back.

It happened last season, when the Orange rebounded from a 1-3 start with four straight wins. This season, after a 1-4 start, SU has rebounded with two wins. It has another tough game against No. 5 Cornell on Tuesday night in Ithaca, followed by Rutgers and Albany, both of which are ranked lower than the Orange.

I’d be remiss not to mention the downside of the difficult schedule. If SU loses to Cornell and No. 10 Massachusetts on April 29 – both conceivable considering they’re ranked higher than the Orange – and slips in one of its other three games, it would be .500 and on the NCAA Tournament bubble. With SU’s talent, a schedule loaded with ‘cupcakes’ would ensure SU easy wins. But that’s not how Desko thinks.

‘We could be playing against a very low-ranked team, and maybe it’ll get you a win,’ Desko said. ‘But it’s not going to help you in the polls, and it’s not going to help you if we’re fortunate enough to be in the playoff hunt at the end of the year.’

That playoff hunt is loaded with big games. But the Orange won’t be pressing. Because when the schedule is loaded with big games, you just get used to them.

Zach Berman is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. E-mail him at zberman@syr.edu or post your response at dailyorangeblog.com.

Published on April 8, 2006 at 12:00 pm