PISCATAWAY, N.J. – I had to think twice about writing this. Actually, check that: I had to think four or five times before writing this. The last time such a proclamation was made, my former colleague Mike Janela predicted the football team would win five games in a row. And we know how that one turned out.

But I can’t help myself. I’m convinced the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team won’t lose for the rest of the regular season. I’m convinced this four-game winning streak, established after topping Rutgers, 13-12, in overtime on Saturday is not a hot flash, but a team finally coming together with talented pieces figuring out where it fits in the puzzle. And the final three games won’t cause sleepless South Campus nights.

I believe Pete Coluccini is a legitimate goaltending presence capable of tending the pipes for a national title contender. I believe one of the slew of offensive playmakers will lead the Orange each game, whether it’s Mike Leveille, Brett Bucktooth, Joe Yevoli, Pat Perritt or anyone else who’s attacking the net. I believe the defense, seasoned with senior John Wright and junior Steve Panarelli, is also capable.

This is a different team than the great Syracuse teams of the past: There’s no Powell. In fact, there’s no superstar. It’s a collection of talented players calloused after failing to make the national semifinals last season for the first time in 22 years and injected with a bevy of newcomers – freshmen or transfers.

‘You have a bunch of guys where a couple have won a national championship, and the freshmen are from very good high schools,’ Bucktooth said. ‘We beat Cornell by a goal; we beat Princeton by two goals. We have some good leadership and excellent freshmen.’

And they keep getting better. I believe Hobart was an aberration and Princeton was an indication. The remaining schedule works in SU’s favor. It’s an example of that grade-school maxim about March’s weather – it came in like a lion, out like a lamb.

Virginia, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins – it was a nightmarish early-season schedule. But judging SU’s prospects at that point would have been foolishly premature. The Orange beat Princeton and Cornell in April and the rest of the schedule – Albany on Friday night, followed by Massachusetts and Colgate – isn’t nearly as frightening as March’s slate.

Coluccini said SU is in no position to take any team lightly, particularly considering the four-game losing streak from earlier this season. But the breaks are going SU’s way. It’s scoring the big goals and making the key stops. Some of it may be talent, but sometimes the stars are aligned in such a way that opportunity meets luck.

‘We’re comfortable with each other, we’re more confident as one unit and it’s showing game to game,’ Coluccini said. ‘The chemistry is big now. The whole team is playing well together. Groundballs, good shots on goal and big stops on defense lead the way, and we’re doing that more and more.’

That’s what it comes down to. The team isn’t more talented than it was when it lost to Virginia. Actually, you can make the case it’s less talented, considering it has lost three starters to injury. But the players it has are getting the job done. They’ve done it four straight times, and they’ll do it at least three more.

But I’ll cut the lovefest and issue a warning: This column might be a bad omen. This could be like Joe Buck talking about a pitcher’s no-hitter or the graphic that appears during a football game indicating that a running back hasn’t fumbled in his last 179 carries, and sure enough, he fumbles the 180th.

It could be the black cat, the Sports Illustrated cover. This could be the column Albany fans toast to in the bar on Friday night, and the column Syracuse fans curse.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

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

Published on April 17, 2006 at 12:00 pm