Fans screamed for him to hold it and kill the clock. Instead, with 10 seconds left in the game and Syracuse up one, Jarett Park received a booming pass, turned and raced past his helpless defender downfield.

Though his shot – with two seconds left – sailed far left, one thing is clear: Not even a nagging back injury can slow Park.

Park showed no signs of wear in Syracuse’s 1-0 win over Albany last night at Syracuse Soccer Stadium, igniting the SU offense when he found Ilias Calaitzidis, who proceeded to fire the ball in the back of Albany’s net for Syracuse’s first and only goal.

‘Once I get going, the back warms up,’ said Park, who didn’t start either of SU’s first two games because of separate back injuries. ‘Sitting at the beginning of games is really tough. I always want to be playing, but I don’t want to hurt my team or myself.’

Park entered the game with 9:22 left in the first half. Initially complacent, Park began pressuring the Albany defense with pesky one-on-one moves and deep positioning.

Park impressed SU head coach Dean Foti when he corralled a Ryan Hickey pass in the middle of the field. With his back to the defender, Park spun to his left, sprinted past the defender and fired a shot just wide.

Park also positioned himself as the deepest forward. Because of his speed, the Albany defense was forced to extend farther back than usual.

‘When he’s in the game, it keeps the defense honest,’ Foti said. ‘Because he’s so fast, the defense can’t creep up and cheat on us. That helps (forward) Kirk (Johnson), it helps (forward) Jeff Evans. He really has a domino effect on the whole offense.’

After entering the game, Park never left. He appeared in perfect health with no visible discomfort or protective pads.

Park’s back has caused problems for years, through both lacrosse and soccer season. Park is a midfielder for SU’s lacrosse team in the spring. Though Park’s lower back prompted Foti to keep him out of the starting linuep against Loyola, he injured his upper back during the Loyola game, forcing him out of last night’s starting lineup.

At halftime, Park’s back stayed loose, allowing Foti to keep him active for the rest of the game.

Still, Foti assessed Park’s injury as ‘day-to-day.’ His status for Sunday’s game against Seton Hall is uncertain.

‘We’ll basically just go with what Jarett tells us,’ Foti said. ‘What else can we do? If he wakes up tomorrow and can’t get out of bed, that doesn’t do us much good.’

Park’s health is essential, especially with midfielder Hickey hampered with a persisting hip injury.

Hickey originally had surgery on his left hip in 2000. Then, in 2001, surgeons worked on Hickey’s right hip. Now, HIckey’s right hip is causing problems again.

Foti and Hickey decided he’d play sparingly throughout the year to keep the hip from acting up. After the season, Hickey will go under the knife for a third time.

‘I’ve been talking with coach, and we’ve come up with a game plan,’ said Hickey, who redshirted in 2001 because of an injury. ‘Basically it was either sit out again or play and have surgery after. I might have decided to get surgery if I didn’t think this team was gonna do well. But I want to be a part of this team.’

Hickey said he felt sore when he left the game with 12:45 left.

‘Some days I can play 20 minutes and can’t walk the next day,’ Hickey said. ‘Others, I can play all 90 and be fine. Today, I was hurting.’

Published on September 3, 2003 at 12:00 pm