Danny Varello didn’t need Syracuse head coach John Desko to explain it to him. He’s been here long enough to understand why he was taken out of the season-opener. Varello wasn’t winning and Jakob Phaup was. Colgate dominated Syracuse on possessions en route to a 12-9 win, and the Orange simply needed a spark.

“Failure is never made in the moment,” Varello said Feb. 12. “I think I’ve been having a better week of practice so far. I think it’s just preparation.”

Varello and his supporters insisted he’d bounce back. Even as Phaup posted the seventh-best faceoff percentage in the nation, the Orange still maintain a “1-2 punch” at the X. Games against Virginia and Johns Hopkins challenged that stance, when only a Phaup injury against the Cavaliers prevented the sophomore from taking nearly all the reps. But the one thing SU has always offered to Varello is another chance.

No. 12 Syracuse (4-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) returned to its tandem against Rutgers last Saturday and dominated the faceoffs. Syracuse won 27 of its 36 attempts at the X, while offering both of its top faceoff specialists more than 16 attempts. Though Desko insisted he’ll ride the “hot hand,” Phaup seemed to have taken ahold of the spot in the first five weeks of the season. But against a faceoff unit which Rutgers head coach Brian Brecht said is “probably not the strength of our program right now,” Syracuse’s season-long goal to get production from every member of its faceoff unit reached its full potential.

“We’ll do what we have to do,” Desko said of the faceoff unit after SU’s 18-14 win over Rutgers. “The guys are both good in their own way.”

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Matchups dictate which player represents the Syracuse faceoff unit at the X. Though Phaup has been more efficient, he and Varello have distinct strengths, Desko said. A former high school wrestler, Phaup is well-versed with his footwork and form despite a slower reaction off the whistle.

When he first started as a faceoff specialist, he attended Philly Faceoff League and Philly Faceoff Academy camps multiple times a week and, when he got home, he drew a line across a block of turf to practice form in his backyard. Against Rutgers, Phaup maintained the same strategy he’s employed all year. Though the Scarlet Knights unit ranks just 48th in the nation in faceoff percentage, Phaup engaged in 50-50 battles, pivoting and flipping ground balls to the wings.

“Faceoffs is definitely a matchups type of thing,” Phaup said earlier this season. “I could be beating somebody that Danny wouldn’t be beating.”

But Syracuse saw an opportunity to utilize Varello’s biggest strength: his speed. Varello’s quickness off the whistle is something that Phaup “envies,” Beth Phaup said. After the Orange’s loss to Colgate, Varello said he’s put an emphasis on “exits” out of the X this season. Before Syracuse went on its decisive 8-1 run against the Scarlet Knights, it applied pressure to Rutgers’ defense as Varello snagged the ball repeatedly and pushed forward into the offensive zone.

Varello struggled with two-straight faceoff violations in the Orange’s fourth-quarter collapse against Virginia on March 2. He then drew two-straight violations on Rutgers. For the first time all season, Varello consistently beat the opponent and gained a rhythm.

Each week in practice, Varello and Phaup line up with Nate Garlow and Nick Martin. Varello said it’s helped him adjust to each of their “idiosyncrasies.” Garlow is a better athlete and Martin is quick to his feet, which gives SU faceoff contributors every possible pregame look. Syracuse has already scouted every faceoff unit it will face this season, Desko said, and will continue its committee approach.

“If one of our faceoff guys has a better move against one of the others,” Desko said, “then we’ll adjust.”

Down 12-10 at the start of the fourth quarter against Rutgers, Varello won eight-straight faceoffs and Syracuse jumped ahead 15-14. He didn’t jump, he didn’t scream. He just found his place on the sideline and waited for his next chance. The two combined to dominate the faceoff X late, winning 11 of the 12 chances in the final period.

For the first time this season with Phaup healthy, there wasn’t uncertainty that it would come, and Syracuse got the production it’s always sought.

“It’s hard to get into a rhythm when you’re doing the whole 1-2 punch thing,” Varello said on Feb. 12. “But that’s just the way it goes.”

Published on March 20, 2019 at 10:39 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary