Kenny Nims faced Providence goalie Robert Bryan alone. He faked up, and as Bryan jumped up, Nims shot low and scored. The goal registered as Nims’ second in 15 seconds during the first quarter.

With fake moves, passing and trick plays, Nims facilitated the offense – and at times the defense – in Syracuse’s season-opening 22-3 blowout win over the Friars Sunday at the Carrier Dome.

Nims led the team with five assists and registered three goals, a career best in points, to help the Orange defeat Providence. The senior captain showed no signs of missing last year’s Tewaaraton Trophy winner Mike Leveille, who graduated after last season. Even though Nims did not lead the Orange in goals, his unselfishness and leadership showed in assists. Sophomore attack Stephen Keogh and Nims connected throughout the day: Three of Nims assists contributed to Keogh’s five goals.

‘Last year myself and Mike (Leveille) had some great chemistry,’ said Nims, an SU attack. ‘This year, Steve and I developed in the preseason and fall ball. We are trying to get a little bit of the same thing going now. We know each other’s tendencies pretty well, and it’s working out.’

Nims, who missed practice all of last week due to illness and the Orange’s scrimmage against Harvard Feb. 7, played at full strength all over the field against the Friars. When a Providence defender tried to advance the ball to his own side of the field, Nims applied pressure, jumped and snatched the ball away, forcing a Friar turnover. Syracuse dominated the possessions during the game, holding the ball the majority of the contest.

On offense, Nims always struck at the right time. After Tim Desko drew a one-minute slashing penalty with 3:30 left in the third quarter, Nims responded by scoring and increasing Syracuse’s lead to 15.

As a freshman, Nims came to Syracuse with a star-packed recruiting class including Dan Hardy and Pat Perritt. Nims now leads the Orange with confidence, making smart plays throughout the game.

Nims’ strong performance Sunday suggests he may be ready to step up as a team leader this season without Leveille, who scored 49 goals last season, by his side. In 2008, Nims ranked second on the team behind Leveille, with 34 goals and 24 assists.

At one point, the Friars’ defense fell for the hidden ball trick. While Providence was looking elsewhere, Nims secretly held the ball all along. The Friars didn’t know where the ball was on the field, and Nims managed to score.

‘It wasn’t something that was planned out, but they kept falling for it, so I kept using it,’ Nims said.

In his postgame press conference, SU head coach John Desko joked about the trick play.

‘You could have saved it (the trick) for Hopkins,’ he said.

Providence’s zone defense failed to contain Nims and the 12 other Syracuse offensive players that scored Sunday. Desko expressed happiness that the Friars used a zone defense against the Orange, because SU will likely face zone defenses next Friday against Army and again later in the season.

‘We tried to do a lot of different things on defense,’ Providence head coach Chris Burdick said. ‘The Syracuse offense and Nims in particular were able to read so quickly the defense package we changed, too. Nims read what we were doing and got his offense organized.’

For the remainder of the season, Nims will be a player other coaches will scout and attempt to shut down. But Nims’ experience from Syracuse’s 2007 disastrous season and winning the 2008 national title, his ability to pull off trick plays and offensive power will prove difficult for any time to contain.

‘He’s an outstanding player and really executed very well today,’ Burdick said. ‘I tip my hat to the Syracuse offense.’

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on February 15, 2009 at 12:00 pm