No player or coach is going to admit a game is a test run. The honesty or candor of such a statement might make them appear arrogant. It also adds fuel to an opponent’s fire.

In particular, Binghamton circled its game against Syracuse on its calendar because it meant a game with a top-20 opponent, and because the Bearcats’ lineup consists of Central New York players – players who likely eyed Syracuse but weren’t talented enough to make the cut.

Leading up to the Orange’s matchup with the Bearcats, SU head coach John Desko and his players talked about the necessity of not overlooking what seemed to be an inferior opponent. Syracuse didn’t overlook Army before its game against the Black Knights on Feb. 23, but it’s getting to be conventional wisdom that losses to teams like that can happen in the regular season.

Fortunately for SU, the Binghamton game wedged between an embarrassing Johns Hopkins loss and a touch schedule that looms ahead against No. 10 Loyola, No. 8 Princeton and No.1 Cornell in the next two weeks.

The Binghamton game would give the Orange a chance to work out, and hopefully perfect, the defensive and offensive kinks before those areas are further scrutinized by more talented teams. With that said, No. 12 Syracuse didn’t overlook this game, but it could only satisfy the bottom line with a 16-10 victory over Binghamton on Saturday.

Desko spoke in generalities about what he wanted his team to accomplish in the Binghamton game (besides a win) given the tough schedule backdrop.

‘We wanted to eliminate some of the mistakes we made last week, put some points on the board and get to the point where we’re feeling better about ourselves,’ Desko said.

Meeting that goal seemed to be a mixed bag, considering SU couldn’t put away Binghamton with a comfortable lead until SU suddenly scored four-straight goals in the fourth period.

That’s not to say the Orange didn’t improve this week. The offense showed more chemistry with midfielder Steven Brooks (four goals), attackman Kenny Nims (four) and attackman Mike Leveille (three) dominating the stat line. Through a goal or an assist, every starting midfielder and attackman showed involvement with the offense.

But they still committed 26 turnovers. And that many turnovers to top-10 teams is going to result in more than 10 goals, thus increasing the chance for a loss. Mistakes like goalie Pete Coluccini made in the second quarter can’t be tolerated: After a save, Coluccini made an unsuccessful clear to defenseman Evan Brady, allowing BU attackman Jake Boyce to make a quick score and reduce SU’s lead to 3-2. Coluccini made a similar clearing error last week against Johns Hopkins.

Desko also had his defense worry more about one-on-one matchups than zone packages, which was something the SU head coach and his players admitted caused confusion on the field against the Blue Jays. That made it easier to defend opponents, because the SU defensemen didn’t have to rely on barking orders from the sideline to implement different zone packages.

But Coluccini and the SU defense giving up 10 goals to the Bearcats is unacceptable. Binghamton hasn’t cracked double-digits this year except against Marist – a team that has allowed double-digit scores in three of its four losses. SU defenseman Kyle Guadagnolo had a better benchmark to reach.

‘We planned on keeping (Binghamton) under five (goals) the whole game,’ he said.

SU failed to meet that goal thanks to the Bearcats scoring four goals on man-down opportunities. Syracuse also plagued itself with nine penalties – ones Guadagnolo thought could’ve been avoided.

In addition, Desko expressed obvious frustration that the fruits of senior Jon Jerome’s labors in dominating faceoffs did not yield the same tempo that Johns Hopkins set when it dominated the Orange in a possession battle last week.

Syracuse can turn out all right in the end. It has the talent to do so. It’s just that sometimes I have the impression the Orange doesn’t feel like playing well on all cylinders until it is forced to. SU midfielder Greg Rommel agrees.

‘There was a renewed sense of urgency after we got off to a 1-4 start (last year),’ Rommel said a few weeks ago. ‘Just playing with that intensity and that emotion in practice and in every game is something you shouldn’t have to wait until you’re in a hole to play with that passion.’

At 3-3 Syracuse isn’t in as much of a hole as last year, but it should play like it is. It’s going to be a short but intense next two weeks. Allowing 26 turnovers and 10 goals to a preseason No. 30 team isn’t going to make the cut.

Mark Medina is a staff writer for The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. E-mail him at mgmedin@gmail.com.

Published on March 25, 2007 at 12:00 pm