orANge You glAD to see us?
Syracuse rides balanced offense to title game berth
In a season chock full of unpredictability — this year’s NCAA Division I men’s tournament was the first without a team with two or fewer losses — it was a familiar brand name in Syracuse that grabbed the No. 1 overall seed in the national postseason. The Orange was not a
dominant top seed by any means. Half of its 16 games were decided by one goal, including losses to Hobart and Villanova, and that trend continued in the playoffs. Two of Syracuse’s NCAA tournament wins came by the same slim margin, a 7-6 quarterfinal victory over Yale and 9-8 semifinal comeback triumph over Denver. In both, Syracuse prevailed despite its
glaring faceoff deficiency. The Orange ranked 55th out of 63 Division I teams in the category (42 percent win percentage), a season-long issue that finally caught up with them in the national title game.
But from where Syracuse began the year — 12th in Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason rankings — the season largely exceeded expectations. JoJo Marasco, wearer of Syracuse’s heralded jersey No. 22, had a career year, setting the program record for assists in a season by a midfielder with 42.
Lacking an electrifying star player of the past such as a Coffman, Leveille, Powell or Gait (North Carolina transfer Nicky
By the end of the 2012 season, Fowler was a seasoned sophomore who had won 60.4 percent of his draws and had cleaned up the sloppy streak in his play. in Duke’s first-round 12-9 win over syracuse in the 2012 NCAA playoffs, Fowler dominated faceoff play before breaking his collarbone on a nasty hit in the third quarter. He won two more draws before leaving the game in serious pain. Duke really missed Fowler two weeks later in a loss to maryland in the NCAA semifinals.
During the 2013 preseason, Duke assistant ron Caputo made Fowler’s job clear to him: Win the possession. period. “[Fowler] really turned the corner when he accepted the fact that all he had to do was get us the ball,” Caputo said. “He didn’t have to go forward, didn’t have to start a fast break. Just let the defense clear it and the middies and attackmen will score the goals.” ***
Fowler studies sociology and marketing at Duke. He might end up in coaching. or he could follow his father’s path. John, a bond broker on Wall street, spent 15 years (1991- 2006) as a firefighter with the Fire Department of the City of New York. He served with F.D.N.Y. rescue 2 in Brooklyn, which lost seven of the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11. “my dad was gone for about a month straight after 9/11,” Brendan Fowler said. “i didn’t go to Duke to become a firefighter, but i think it would be pretty awesome to do it.” The father laughed softly at that notion, then thought of the other Fowler boys — Danny (18), Jack (16) and vincent (10) — and the example they have in their big brother. Danny is headed to Duke to play lacrosse.
“Brendan is so grounded, so old school,” John Fowler said.
“He’s the best role model for three younger brothers you could ask for.” LM
A Publication of US Lacrosse
Galasso was supposed to be that guy before a pre-season injury ended his year), this Orange outfit came to be known for sharing the ball on offense — nine players finished the season with 15 points or more — and a stingy defense that allowed only 8.95 goals per game and caused timely turnovers. “There’s no Powells or Gaits running around out there,” Denver coach Bill Tierney said after the Orange beat his Pioneers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. “Just a bunch of great hard-working young men that know they’re going to be in tight games and have found a way to win most of them.”
Senior JoJo Marasco lived up to the No. 22 jersey by setting a program record for assists in a season by a midfielder with 42.
In the end, Syracuse’s nine- member senior class, led by Tewaaraton finalist Marasco and second-team All-American defenseman Brian Megill, avoided the dubious distinction of being the first Syracuse group since 1979 to not make a final four. And coach John Desko’s crew saved the year for the blue bloods, in a season that featured the first NCAA tournament ever without Johns Hopkins and Virginia.
— C.M.
TOP 5 FOR 2014 1. DUKE
No one reloads better than Duke; the Blue Devils’ seven straight semifinal appearances are evidence of that. All three starting attackmen return, along with two starters on close defense, the top two poles, defensive midfielder Will Haus, faceoff man Brendan Fowler and goalie Kyle Turri.
3. SYRACUSE 2. NortH CAroliNA Here’s
guessing a lot more folks would be on the Tar Heels’ bandwagon for 2014 if they could have just closed out Denver in the quarterfinals after building a large early lead. There’s a lot back, and the likes of Joey Sankey, Jimmy Bitter and Chad Tutton will keep North Carolina dangerous.
Losing JoJo Marasco hurts, but the Orange have eight of their top 10 scorers back. With Nicky Galasso and incoming junior college transfer Randy Staats, things look promising. The top issue in the Orange’s first ACC season will be faceoffs.
4. DENVER
A healthy Jeremy Noble,
combined with and Eric
Wesley Berg Adamson,
provide good offense, and two defenseman and both
goalies return as well. Denver heads to the Big East next season.
5. NOTRE DAME You know what you’ll get from Notre Dame: an exceptional defensive system with a quality goalie coupled with decent offensive players. But Matt Kavanagh’s strong freshman season suggests the Irish have a guy to build their offense around. The Fighting Irish will play in the ACC along with Syracuse. — C.M. and Patrick Stevens
July 2013 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 39
©AJ MAST (JS); ©KEVIN TUCKER (JM)
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