John Desko doesn’t see this as a matter of life and death, but as an opportunity. Syracuse starts a new season Thursday with the chance to put its disappointing regular season in the rearview mirror.

The Orange fell to Villanova 11-10 on March 25 in its first-ever conference loss. Now, Syracuse has a chance to earn revenge and extend its season.

‘I think we can do better this time and it gives us an opportunity to get to the Big East championships,’ Desko said, ‘and if we win the Big East championships, we’re in the NCAA (tournament).’

To do that, Syracuse’s defense must be ready for an experienced Villanova lineup dotted with aggressive shooters. The Wildcats’ offensive firepower beat Syracuse (7-7, 3-3 Big East) once already, and the Orange’s defense is focusing on correcting its mistakes to ensure the Villanova (8-6, 4-2) attack doesn’t repeat that performance Thursday at 7 p.m. at Villanova Stadium in the Big East tournament semifinals. If Syracuse wins, it’ll face the winner of the game between Notre Dame and St. John’s. The Orange likely has to win the Big East tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament to avoid missing the postseason for the first time in five years.

The No. 3 seed SU is looking to take two of No. 2 seed Villanova’s most formidable scorers, Kevin Cunningham and Jack Rice, out of the game by sliding early, increasing communication between defenders and keeping them from getting any easy looks at the goal. Back on March 25, Rice had two goals and Cunningham had three assists.

The Orange’s defense has been in flux since the start of the season. Three goaltenders have rotated in and out of the net, the close defense line has two new starters in sophomore Matt Harris and redshirt-junior David Hamlin, and Steve Ianzito is in his first season as a defensive midfielder.

All of that has led to a slow-to-develop cohesiveness for the unit. Without sufficient communication, opposing scorers have exploited the Orange’s defenders’ inability to sufficiently slide. 

‘We need to be a lot more talkative, we need to communicate a lot better, and I think we need to slide a lot more,’ Hamlin said. ‘We need to have our two slides, and know we’re out there playing team defense, that we’re not out there by ourselves.’

Freshman goaltender Bobby Wardwell, who has started the last six games, will likely get the nod in net. Dominic Lamolinara started in goal against Villanova the last time the two teams played, and the Wildcats took 11 shots in the first quarter, the most it took in any period in the game. Villanova will almost certainly do that again Thursday to throw Wardwell of his game and unnerve him early on.

It’s a strategy Desko stresses to his offense before each game.

Hamlin said Desko routinely tells his attack to take the first couple of shots, and make sure they’re well placed, and if it works the way he wants, the goaltender’s confidence will be shaken at the start.

With SU’s season on the line, Wardwell will have little time to overcome early nerves. Villanova has 50 first-quarter goals this season, which is the most it has in any quarter by 13.

‘I’d say I’m starting to feel a little bit more comfortable,’ Wardwell said. ‘The first couple of games I was pretty nervous, and then I kind of relaxed a little bit more.’

Still, Wardwell is going to need help.

Syracuse’s defense is responsible for slowing the Wildcats down. The unit has to communicate and slide to those shooters when they’re about to get an open look. Hamlin said it might even require falling into a zone defense, not only to force long shots, but also to confuse Villanova on the fly.

Though the Orange typically employs a man-to-man defense, Syracuse fell into a zone at Notre Dame and stifled the Fighting Irish’s offense in the second half after some slow rotations in the first half.

For a unit that’s still looking for consistency – much like the Orange as a team – the defenders need to reverse the mistakes they made in the first matchup with Villanova. That could begin and end with communication among the defenders.

Keeping Rice and Cunningham, who have 29 and 20 goals this season respectively, from hitting the back of the net could be the difference between Syracuse going home for good or playing in the championship round.

Said Hamlin: ‘The communication on the field is going to be the biggest help.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on May 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman