Tim Desko was the difference-maker. In front of the largest crowd of the season in all of college lacrosse, the Syracuse attack came up huge for his team.

‘I like playing in front of big crowds,’ Desko said. ‘This was a big game today. I take whatever I can get, and it worked out well today.’

But saying it worked out well might be putting it lightly.

Desko scored five goals Friday and propelled his No. 1 Syracuse team to a 12-10 win over No. 2 Virginia. The redshirt junior scored three times in the second half, which gave the Orange the chance to pull away from the Cavaliers and get the victory. And he netted the team’s final goal to put the game out of a reach on a night in which he took most of the spotlight.

Without Desko, it’s very possible the Cavaliers’ regular-season winning streak would’ve continued over the Orange. It had been since 2004 that Syracuse registered a regular-season win over UVa, but nearly every time someone on Virginia scored, Desko responded right back with a goal of his own. No matter what the Cavaliers did, they couldn’t find a way to stop him. And without a way to keep Desko from finding the back of the net, it was all but impossible for Virginia to go on a run.

‘I thought Desko showed his experience in the second half,’ Virginia head coach Dom Starsia said. ‘He did a really nice job backdooring and keeping some pressure on us there.’

Virginia never found a way to resist the pressure, as the Cavalier defense caved almost every time Desko took the ball to the net. He took eight shots in the game, and only three of them missed the goal. He shot from what seemed like every location and angle on the field.

In the first quarter, he ran around the left side of the net, past the goal, and then shot to his right from about seven yards out while all his momentum was going to his left.

He followed that up with another goal four minutes later, when he took a pass from Jeremy Thompson and shot behind his back while falling to the turf.

In those goals, Desko fought through the Virginia defense to make his way to the net. In the second half, Desko found openings that gave him wide-open looks.

‘Basically, the defense was ball-watching a little bit,’ Desko said. ‘So when they turned their head, I cut in and I was wide open.’

For Desko, this game was only a continuation of what’s been a stellar start to the season. Desko finally got his chance to start full time this season, and he has taken advantage of it. He is no longer left to wonder what his role is. At the start of the game, he’s going to be on the field, along with fellow attack JoJo Marasco and Stephen Keogh.

And three games into the season, he’s done plenty to prove he’s deserving of the opportunity. In Syracuse’s last game against Army, Desko had his first career hat trick.

He followed it up with Friday’s five-goal outburst.

‘I think he’s been able to do everything better,’ Syracuse head coach John Desko said. ‘He’s just improved on his dodging this year and where he is on the field. I think it’s a confidence issue, too, the fact that he’s been able to put a string of games together.’

In a game in which Syracuse was determined to send Virginia home with a loss, Tim Desko held most of the responsibility for making that happen.

So it was only fitting he was the one to net the last Orange goal. After running out from behind the right side of the goal, he crossed in front of the crease and fired a shot. As his momentum carried him to the ground, the ball snuck into the goal over the right shoulder of Virginia goaltender Adam Ghitelman.

It put a stamp on the victory for the player who carried his team all game long.

‘It’s great to know that I played well for my team,’ Tim Desko said. ‘As long as we get the win, that’s all I really care about.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on March 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman