Sean Young was one of the next men up when Brandon Mullins went down with a season-ending right knee injury March 1 against Virginia.

Young, a Towson transfer, has started the last five games at defense for the Orange. He helped SU shut down Johns Hopkins’ Brandon Benn, and has been consistent around the crease. Young will match up against Steve Mock on Wednesday as No. 7 Syracuse (7-2, 2-1 Big East) faces arguably its toughest test yet in No. 2 Cornell (10-1, 4-0 Ivy) at the Carrier Dome at 6 p.m.

“With Mullins going down, we needed an inside threat guy,” SU midfielder Steve Ianzito said. “Sean’s got slow feet but he’s got great stick skills, he’s got great awareness. He’s playing tremendous.”

The 6-foot-2 Young played his freshman season at Towson — a team that finished below .500 and sputtered its way to fourth place in the Colonial Athletic Association. He played in 14 games, but never started. Midway through the summer, he knew it was time for a change.

Young spoke with SU assistant coach Lelan Rogers and decided he wanted to transfer to Syracuse, which is just three hours away from his hometown of Oakville, Ontario. He grew to love the tradition and community associated with Syracuse lacrosse and knew it was a perfect fit.

Early in the season, he still wasn’t getting much playing time at Syracuse, though. The Orange was 3-1 and Young hadn’t set foot on the field. But that changed when Mullins was lost for the season.

“I just knew I had to step up for the team,” Young said. “Any one of our ‘D’ guys could have filled in for Brandon, but I just had to be ready when my opportunity came.”

Young saw his first action against Hopkins and was presented a daunting challenge right away. He matched up against Benn, the JHU star who has torched opponents for 22 goals this season.

But Young coolly and completely shut him down. Benn’s only goal came in the fourth quarter on a rebound that Young didn’t factor into. Young said he watched a lot of film going into the matchup and zeroed-in on Benn’s tendencies. Benn’s teammates liked to feed him on the inside, so Young stayed on his hands and shadowed him all afternoon.

Syracuse won 13-8 thanks, in large part, to Young’s dominant play. Long-stick midfielder Joe Fazio said Young picked up on Syracuse’s defensive schemes and nuances much faster than most people. He said Young is one of the team’s best defenders in the crease and doesn’t make many mistakes.

“His first start was against one of the best from Hopkins, and he really showed him up,” Fazio said. “He’s not taking anything. He’s really mentally strong.”

Syracuse reserves Tom Grimm and Drew Jenkins said Young’s experience playing lacrosse in Canada helped improve his stick skills. Grimm praised Young’s off-ball defense, while Jenkins highlighted his on-ball skills. Young has meshed seamlessly into the Orange’s first unit with Brian Megill and David Hamlin, and has met every challenge he’s faced so far.

He’ll be in for arguably his most difficult task of the season Wednesday night. Syracuse head coach John Desko said Young will match up with Cornell’s Steve Mock, who currently leads the country with 37 goals.

Mock has scored five goals or more four times this season, and thrives off of teammate Rob Pannell’s passing. Cornell’s only loss of the season came when Mock was out with an injury.

Desko said putting Young on lethal off-ball players the past five games has yielded positive results. He called Pannell arguably the best player in the country, and said he often looks for Mock around the crease.

Defending the crease is Young’s specialty. Scoring there is Mock’s.

“You’ve got to know where (Mock) is all the time,” Desko said. “As soon as you turn your head, Pannell throws it in to him when you least expect it. You’ve got to be on your toes for 60 minutes.”

Published on April 10, 2013 at 1:15 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass