Greg Cannella ran down the list of Syracuse defenders, a role call of the players who had hounded his Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team all afternoon in Saturday’s 16-3 victory for the No. 2 Orange.

His team was shut out in the first half, 9-0, and suffocated throughout. It turned the ball over 22 times and shot the ball 21. And Cannella knew the reason why.

There was Sid Smith and Kyle Guadagnolo, the close defenders, the UMass head coach said. Plus John Galloway in net. (‘He’s got a real presence.’) Fellow rookie Joel White, as good a long stick midfielder as Cannella said he’s seen all year. And don’t forget the shortsticks, athletes like junior Matt Abbott and freshman Jovan Miller.

‘I’m sure their pride was a little dented last year,’ Cannella said. ‘Like I said, they have a great attitude, and they really play together as a team.’

Last year, the Orange went 5-8 and gave up 11.38 goals a game. Now the team is 12-1, and only allowing 7.15 each time out – the best mark since giving up 7.0 in 1970.

Cannella saw the difference Saturday: a talented group of athletes playing together.

And though attack Tim Balise scored seven seconds into the third quarter to end the drought for the Minutemen, the Orange kept attacking. The unit forced outside shots to protect Galloway.

‘This is the time that we want to get better and really come together,’ the senior captain Guadagnolo said. ‘We’re not just trying to not let them score, but we’re trying to limit the good shots that they get. We want to keep them flat and not let them get good shots from the outside to let John (Galloway) get easy saves.’

And the freshman came through, stopping seven shots in three quarters of action, including an excellent save on a Balise breakaway in the third.

There was little let-up from the Orange defensively, even with the large lead.

Syracuse head coach John Desko seemed to call off the dogs on offense early. The third midfield line, featuring freshmen Josh Amidon and Jack Harmatuk, got time in the second quarter.

But the defense stayed aggressive throughout. Things got chippy as the game stretched on – Syracuse committed five fourth-quarter penalties. But Desko was still happy with the team’s play afterward.

‘We played good defense,’ Desko said. ‘We were making saves, clearing the ball.’

And even a little extra responsibility didn’t hurt the unit.

With face-off specialist Danny Brennan nursing a pulled muscle, senior defensive midfielder John Carrozza filled the void. He went 4-for-10 but still made his mark on defense.

‘He is a very good athlete,’ Desko said of Carrozza. ‘So he’s a hard guy to run by. And he’s a tough kid too and shows it. The last couple games he’s been anticipating the flow of the ball and getting a couple steals. He did a nice job in creating some transition for us going from defense to offense.’

Carrozza did that on the second goal of the game, taking a feed from White off a Galloway clear and rushing up midfield, where a few one-touch passes led to a Mike Leveille goal.

‘They’re fantastic in transition,’ Cannella said. ‘They were great today in it. Very opportunistic early in the game.’

For a defense that seems to improve each week, that’s the key – starting transition and getting the ball to the offense, which averages more than 13 goals a game.

‘We just want to go out on top and have fun while doing it,’ Guadagnolo said. ‘We have a ways to go.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on April 27, 2008 at 12:00 pm