A little more than three minutes were gone in the first quarter when Sam Miller virtually disappeared. Hobart’s leading scorer — and the 22nd best scorer in the nation — vanished beneath the cloak of the Syracuse defense, never to be heard from again.

Miller’s goal with 11:51 remaining in the opening period was his last shot of the game.

‘After the first goal, we clamped down and made sure we knew where he was at all times during the game,’ SU goaltender John Galloway said.

And for the first time in the last four games, the ‘we’ included defender John Lade. The All-American defender missed two of the last three games with a left ankle injury suffered on April 3 against Duke and missed all but one quarter in the game he did play in — SU’s loss to Cornell. But Tuesday, Lade started in his familiar spot alongside Brian Megill and Tom Guadagnolo on the Orange defense and harassed Hobart’s Miller for all 45 minutes he played.

As of Wednesday, Syracuse head coach John Desko was unsure whether Lade would be able to go against the Statesmen. He erased any doubts about his status with a typical physical performance that has come to personify the senior.

‘The ankle has been getting better in the past couple weeks, and it felt good to be out there today,’ Lade said. ‘And it feels good right now.’

Lade showed no signs of limited mobility Tuesday and said there isn’t one part of the game in which the ankle bothers him more than other facets.

With 4:48 remaining in the second quarter, he beat several Hobart players to a groundball, scooped it and quickly passed it into the offensive zone. Minutes later, Lade alertly darted away from Miller when a ball bounced off Galloway toward the sideline and outran Hobart’s Cam Stone to give the Orange possession.

It was plays like these that indicated to Miller his counterpart was fine.

‘To be honest, yeah. He seemed all right to me,’ Miller said.

Primarily an off-ball player, Miller posed no easy challenge for a player with a weak ankle. He ran tirelessly through the Syracuse defense, utilizing screens and making back cuts trying to get open.

But wherever he went, Lade went, too. Miller came into the game averaging 2.18 goals per game on more than seven shots a contest. His stat line Tuesday: one goal, one shot.

‘He’s very good off-ball, so you have to make sure that you’re on him,’ Lade said. ‘If you’re off him for too long, he’s going to get that time for him to shoot and stick a ‘G’ like he did early in the game.’

And after that first goal, Lade was never off him again. On a rare occasion in the fourth quarter, Miller popped free along the right sideline of the attacking zone. His teammate Paul Reintjes spotted him and attempted to throw him a pass out from behind the goal.

While the ball was in flight, SU’s Bobby Eilers was whistled for a penalty. Nonetheless, Lade dipped in front of Miller and picked off the pass anyway.

So with his team leading 12-4 at the conclusion of the third quarter, Desko made the decision to take Lade out of the game. The senior stood on the sideline and watched as Guadagnolo took over the assignment on Miller, though Lade said he could have gone the full 60 minutes if necessary.

With 4:34 left in the fourth, Miller went at the Syracuse co-captain, but Guadagnolo muscled him to the ground and the ball popped free. Lade applauded from the bench.

‘Tom is a great defender,’ Lade said. ‘Having him shut down their leading scorer, I feel just as happy for him as I would for me. … I was low man on the totem pole today, so I was the first one out.’

For the first time in the 16 days since he injured that left ankle, Lade was OK with standing on the sideline. His 45 minutes of work were complete, and the ankle felt fine. It was a reassuring sign for arguably the nation’s best close defender.

And his teammate Kevin Drew took notice.

‘The defense played well,’ Drew said. ‘We got Lade back now, so we’re doing good.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on April 19, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13