Syracuse was suffering from a three-game losing streak, but midfielder Pat Perritt thought arrogance still swept the Orange locker room. When SU hosted Hobart last year, Perritt remembers he and his teammates thought, ‘Oh it’s just Hobart.’

But the Statesmen won, 9-8, and took the Kraus-Simmons Trophy for the first time since 1986. It left goalie Pete Coluccini wondering: ‘What’s going on?’ It left the Orange 1-4 and raised suspicions that SU would fail to make the NCAA Championships for the first time in 23 years.

Syracuse won nine straight games and made the final four, which became an inspiring story SU rallied around. As the Orange hosts Hobart Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Carrier Dome for the 2007 season opener, players have pledged to learn the lessons from last year’s game so the Orange don’t have to play from behind this season.

‘It was a kick in the face,’ Coluccini said. ‘You learn a lot in a game like that. It humbles you. You were humbled enough but you get humbled even more.’

Not only does the season opener give extra incentive given the opponent, but SU is trying to make up for its scrimmages against Hofstra and Le Moyne, where the Orange was plagued with turnovers and sloppy play.

SU head coach John Desko was more pleased with the Orange’s 12-8 victory over Navy in its third scrimmage last weekend. Syracuse stormed out to an 8-1 halftime lead and played better defensively.

‘The first two scrimmages we didn’t have a lot of intensity,’ SU defenseman Steve Panarelli said. ‘We didn’t play ready. In the Navy game, I thought we came out and took it to them early and we kept it on them for a while. I think it’s the whole intensity part of that. When you’re not intense and you’re not focused, you get turnovers and mistakes.’

That lacking intensity is the same factor that caused Panarelli to throw his helmet at the FieldTurf, flip over a food table in the locker room and lead a players-only meeting the following day after SU’s loss to Hobart. Panarelli said and Perritt agreed that inexperienced players such as Perritt, Dan Hardy, Matt Abbott and Kenny Nims having to replace injured veterans Greg Rommel, Greg Niewieroski and Steven Brooks contributed little to Syracuse’s struggles.

It all traced back to SU’s attitude and intensity, they said. Panarelli saw unforced errors on the offensive end and missed assignments on the defensive end. Given SU’s attitude at the beginning of the season, the Orange appreciated that the loss quickly changed its mindset. Panarelli was mindful in hindsight that his emotional reaction after the game could’ve negatively fueled Syracuse’s frustration, though.

‘At that point you’re not really thinking about stuff like that,’ Panarelli said of his postgame antics. ‘You kind of just react. I think in the end, I mean the guys joke about

it, but I think it helped. After that moment and the next day we had the players-only meeting, we kept it together and we just kept moving forward.’

Perritt saw a different attitude in practice. He didn’t see his teammates wallow in self-pity, nor did he see players view the struggling start as an excuse to start looking to rebuild for this season. Though he felt some personal responsibility toward the team’s struggles with his inexperience, he knew SU’s failures reflected the play from the defensive, midfield and attack unit. But he said SU pledged not to blame each other.

‘That’s the last thing we wanted to do,’ Perritt said. ‘That says a lot about this team. In high school, you see that a lot with kids finger-pointing at other kids. That doesn’t go on here. It’s just as much your fault as it is the other guy who is next to you.’

Coluccini will be celebrating his 21st birthday on Sunday afternoon and his parents, aunt and uncle will attend SU’s game. There would be nothing more satisfying toward the Orange’s development and to his birthday wish list than a season-opening victory and the trophy.

‘That’s the most important thing to me,’ Coluccini said. ‘It’s the only thing I want out there is a win.’

Published on February 15, 2007 at 12:00 pm