Stephen Keogh has never shied away from a fight.

Growing up with two older brothers, he had to learn to defend himself at an early age if he wanted a chance at a fair match. When he followed the usual path of most Canadian kids into sports by beginning his hockey career, his penchant for fighting only increased. And it gave him another place to put his toughness at the forefront.

Some things haven’t changed. But one thing has. Instead of ice, he’s on turf. But the toughness remains the same.

‘Playing hockey, I wasn’t the most skilled player. But I liked to get into it, the gritty, the grinder,’ Keogh said. ‘In lacrosse, fights happen. I’m not scared to get into it.’

On the field, Keogh is a player who’s been taking hard hits since his hockey days. No matter how rough or how physical. Keogh runs at them, never away. He’s fought his way to being one of Syracuse’s leading scorers on attack and now, as a senior, is stepping up to take over as a leader on offense with attack Chris Daniello and Cody Jamieson departed.

Before Keogh arrived at Syracuse, his future teammates saw him fighting on a YouTube clip. Daniello remembers watching the clip to see the scrappy player he’d soon be sharing a locker room with. It was then Daniello got his first impression of Keogh.

As it turns out, his first impression ended up being the lasting one.

‘He’s definitely a very tough player,’ Daniello said. ‘You could definitely tell he was one of the Canadian indoor players who was really gritty.’

For Jamieson, there was nothing new about Keogh’s ability to fight on the field. Jamieson was used to it, having played against Keogh during their childhood years in Toronto. The same hard-nosed box lacrosse player in Canada wasn’t any different from the field lacrosse player in the United States.

Intense. Fearless. Never avoids a fight.

‘He was pretty much the same as he is now. Always his intensity, he’s a tough kid,’ Jamieson said. ‘In box lacrosse, he was always roughing it up. In field lacrosse, he doesn’t back down from anybody. He won’t back out of a hit, and he’ll run full tilt at you.’

Brewster’s ‘lax junkie’

Bill Lee witnessed the transformation of a quiet, unaggressive student into a relentless competitor on the lacrosse field. As Keogh’s head coach at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, Lee also witnessed two of the most successful seasons of any Brewster lacrosse player.

Keogh led Brewster to 28 wins and two Northern New England Lacrosse League titles while he was there. In 2006, he notched 113 points with 73 goals, setting Brewster’s single-season scoring record. He left as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 124 goals. Through it all, he never changed on the field. Always the same type of player.

‘You talk to Stephen, you see him off the lacrosse field, he’s a pretty gentle soul,’ Lee said. ‘Get him on the field, and he’s just a fierce competitor and physical and strong.’

It’s a part of what made Lee want to bring Keogh to Brewster. Lee took a trip to Toronto to see Keogh’s friend, Tyler Collins, play. But during the entire game, Keogh stood next to Lee, lacrosse stick in hand, talking about the game.

Lee wanted to see this ‘lax junkie’ play. And when Lee watched Keogh play for the Toronto Beaches in a summer league game, he immediately saw what everyone else continues to see.

‘He was just tough. He was a very good fighter,’ Lee said. ‘I was able to see a couple of his skirmishes up there and knew that he was a pretty tough kid.’

Once Keogh arrived at Brewster, everyone else came to know it, too. What they also came to know was that in any situation, especially when a game was on the line or when Brewster needed a win, Keogh always wanted the ball in his stick. He was always ready to step up and lead everyone else on the field.

When Brewster played Phillips Academy, a team it had never beaten, Keogh never had to tell his coach he wanted the ball. Down by a couple of goals, Brewster needed someone to take over. If anyone was going to get the Bobcats back into the game, it was Keogh.

‘He kind of took control of the game at a critical time,’ Lee said. ‘He didn’t tell me, but I could just tell from his actions, he wanted the ball. He wanted to be that guy to help bring us back.’

Keogh did exactly that. Led by Keogh, Brewster beat Phillips.

‘At that time, I wanted the ball in my stick, I wanted to be the go-to guy,’ Keogh said. ‘When it comes down to games like that, I kind of want the ball in my stick to try and make the last play, get the winning goal.’

The tough ‘lax junkie’ Lee met in Toronto had come through for Brewster at exactly the right time.

An unquestioned leader

Like his ability to fight, his ability to score goals at an unmatched rate hasn’t changed. From box lacrosse to Brewster to the field at Syracuse, he’s always been a leading scorer. Last season, he led the Orange with 31 goals and tied for first in the Big East with goals per game at 2.07. He makes it almost impossible for anyone to try to stop him.

‘Somehow, he always finds a way to get open,’ Daniello said. ‘The defense doesn’t like covering him.’

With Daniello and Jamieson gone, Keogh is now the leader on offense. It’s a role neither Daniello nor Jamieson had to speak with him about. Instead, he’ll only do what he’s always done, and that’s lead by the way he plays on the field.

In a way, Keogh has already helped lead the Orange for a couple of years. Jamieson said he’s always mentored the younger players, showing them the things he looks for to score. The only difference is he’ll now have the senior title attached to his name.

When it comes down it, Keogh will almost be an on-field coach.

‘We need him to be a leader,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘A little bit of a coach, tell the younger guys where to go and when to be there. We always look to him because he shoots the ball so well.’

There’s no concern Keogh won’t live up to his numbers from the past three years now that Daniello and Jamieson are gone. Desko said Keogh might even get more opportunities because Daniello and Jamieson weren’t always able to provide assists. That’s something Tim Desko and JoJo Marasco, who are better at creating scoring opportunities, will be able to do more often.

‘I’m going to try and stick to the way I play,’ Keogh said. ‘I don’t want to go too out of my shell because sometimes that causes turnovers. … I just want to stick to my game plan and see how it goes.’

It’ll also allow Keogh to continue to play the way he always has, without having to change anything to make up for the losses. For Keogh, he’ll be trying to lead Syracuse back to a championship. With the way 2010 ended, a first-round NCAA tournament loss to Army at the Carrier Dome, he’s a little hungrier and a little more motivated.

And he’s ready to fight all the way to his third championship.

‘I’m ready to take on the challenge,’ Keogh said. ‘It’s my senior season. I want to go out with a bang.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on February 16, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman