A glassy-eyed Tim Desko sat down at the table in the MetLife Stadium media room and stared blankly at the back wall.

Syracuse exploded out of the gate and took a two-goal lead against Duke last Sunday. But down one late in the game, the Orange failed to capitalize on three perfect opportunities in front of the goal.

Despite an improvement in energy and tenacity from previous losses, the game still ended in defeat for Syracuse.

‘We were one or two plays away from winning that game,’ Desko said. ‘I thought we were there. We played a good game but not a perfect game. There was just a couple things. I thought we were right there, and I think if we take the energy and everything from Sunday into this week, I think we’ll be fine.’

Despite an encouraging performance on offense, marked by improved shot selection, No. 17 SU (4-4, 2-1 Big East) was done in by four phenomenal saves by Blue Devils goaltender Dan Wigrizer in a 12-10 loss. In the process, the Orange dropped two straight games for the first time since 2007. But the path to redemption doesn’t get much easier. The Syracuse attack will try to get back on track against No. 10 Princeton (6-2, 3-0 Ivy League), which boasts the fifth-best scoring defense in the country, when they square off at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Carrier Dome.

The Tigers’ veteran group at close defense is led by All-American Chad Wiedmaier, who has been a menace on the defensive end, forcing his opponent to turn the ball over 18 times in eight games. The Princeton back line, along with three-time All-American goaltender Tyler Fiorito, combines to hold opponents to just 6.6 goals per game.

‘They’re big, tough guys, very disciplined and they want to get after you, so we have to be smart with what we do,’ Desko said. ‘Just play our game and I think we’ll be fine.’

Princeton’s defense is similar to Johns Hopkins, a team that gave SU’s offense fits when the teams met March 17. Led by stellar play in net and a stalwart close defense unit, the Blue Jays held SU’s attack scoreless in the third quarter in Syracuse’s 11-7 loss. The seven goals were the Orange’s lowest scoring total all season.

But midfielder Luke Cometti feels the team has become more cohesive since that game two weeks ago.

‘At that point we weren’t really meshing well with the attack, but since then we’ve built on it, and we’ve started to get better,’ Cometti said. ‘I think Duke we played pretty well. We obviously just made some mistakes, and we’re going to take a hard look at Princeton’s ‘D’ this weekend and see their weaknesses, if there are any, and try to exploit them.’

The unified attack has shown flashes of brilliance since that the Hopkins loss, but at other times, the Orange has gone cold. Against Duke, Syracuse seemed to finally hit its stride.

Throughout the game, SU worked the ball effortlessly to free up players for high-percentage shots. And the players finally began changing the plane on their shots, something head coach John Desko stressed leading up to the game.

Forty-seven seconds into the first period, SU midfielder Hakeem Lecky charged down the right alley and fired a bullet shot with pinpoint accuracy into the top left corner of the net.

Syracuse sustained that aggression throughout all four quarters, yet still trailed by one goal late in the game. Attack Collin Donahue fired a shot from five yards out toward the bottom left corner of the goal, but Wigrizer made a kick save to dash SU’s chance at a comeback.

Although Syracuse has stumbled to a slow start, John Desko believes he has seen marked improvement in his team’s play in recent games. He said he hopes his players will bring similar effort to the game against Princeton on Saturday.

The Orange will need to be sharp offensively to upend Princeton and its dominant defense.

‘I think we know they’re a very good defense, they will slide early,’ John Desko said. ‘We’ve got to execute early, and we’ve got to make good decisions, especially when dodging with the ball and where to throw the ball to.’

adtredin@syr.edu

Published on April 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm