To say Syracuse wanted to pay back Massachusetts for last year’s first-round upset, ending SU’s run of 22 straight final fours, is simply stating the obvious.

Recent incidents range from a broken jaw of former SU midfielder Steve Vallone in 2003, a Mike Powell flip in 2004 and Minuteman Jeff Zywicki’s somersault in 2005. It’s evident neither team cares for the another.

But there is a clear distinction in terms of what players should say in the locker room and what they should say to the public, particularly to the media. Syracuse head coach John Desko understands that. He also knew with this game bringing so many emotions, it could either drive both teams to use the rivalry as motivation productively or destructively.

That’s why when Desko heard SU midfielder Brian Crockett and attackman Brett Bucktooth resort to trash talk during interviews last Wednesday, Desko wouldn’t have any of it.

Desko decided not to start his two seniors as a result, despite it being Senior Day. Syracuse won, 12-7, but two quality starters could’ve yielded unwanted results on the field. Desko rightfully wanted to send a message.

Just so everyone is on the same page, Crockett said on Wednesday, ‘I don’t know a lot of (the UMass) players personally, but the ones I do know, I don’t like. The team in general, I don’t really have a whole lot of respect for them, and I want to beat them pretty badly.’

Said Bucktooth: ‘They’ve hated us for a long time because they could never beat us. And when they finally got a couple of wins, they think they’re everything, so we need to put them back where they belong.’

Upset the focus had veered from X’s and O’s, Desko made a point.

‘We weren’t going to focus on what happened at UMass,’ Desko said. ‘We were going to focus on UMass players, what they do offensively, what they do defensively and our execution.

‘Just try to channel the emotion of that and use it towards good thinking. We wanted to make good decisions on the field. We wanted to stay out of the penalty box, not get caught up in the emotion and just play Syracuse lacrosse. Play it the way it should be played.’

Coincidence or not, this game didn’t prove to be what most would have envisioned in terms of physical play. Sure there were a handful of penalties – eight from UMass and six from Syracuse. Most were harmless.

In the third quarter, SU midfielder John Carrozza and Minutemen midfielder Brett Garber were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Afterward, Carrozza bobbed his stick at Garber’s helmet. But from press row, it looked more playful and comical than anything else.

In the fourth quarter, UMass defenders Dan Whipple and Matt Carroll ganged up on attackman Kenny Nims to try to knock the ball away. The defenders knocked Nims to the ground. Nims didn’t fight back, though. He stood up and walked to the sideline, receiving pats from Joe Yevoli and Steve Babbles.

‘I thought this was a less physical game since I’ve been here,’ junior defenseman Steve Panarelli said. ‘My freshman and sophomore year, you walk out of the room and you feel real beat up. I don’t think there were any cheap shots, late hits or things like that.’

UMass players thought this year’s matchup was less physical because there weren’t as many opportunities where a late-hit or a check would be appropriate. But given its recent history, it doesn’t seem that has ever inhibited either team from playing rough.

Instead Desko wanted his team to play the ‘Syracuse way – playing it the way it should be played.’ That can mean a lot of things. But it also means that he didn’t want each game to aggregate, bringing each year’s intensity to the matchup contingent upon what a player may have done on the field or publicly stated before the game.

By not starting Bucktooth and Crockett, Desko sent a message not only to his team, but to Massachusetts and lacrosse fans that the head coach represents a classy program.

‘We preached all week that’s not our main focus – revenge for last year,’ senior defenseman John Wright said. ‘We’re thinking about the streak we’re on with this team this year. We’re validating that four-game losing streak by winning out. Our goal is winning this game because of what happened this season, not what happened last season.’

Whether both teams’ respected tone on Saturday is purely based on a different outlook or a drive to be more diplomatic, Desko’s move shows he wants this rival game against Massachusetts to be more about intense competition as opposed to having it play out as a feuding soap opera for fans and media to feast on.

After all, this whole subject has given me something to write about for this week.

Mark Medina is an assistant copy editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. E-mail him at mgmedin@gmail.com or post your response on dailyorangeblog.com.

Published on April 30, 2006 at 12:00 pm