Much of Syracuse’s preparation for the 2014 season has been centered on the last game it played.

Rewind to May 27, 2013. Syracuse holds a 6-5 advantage over Duke at halftime and is two periods away from capturing the 12th NCAA tournament championship in program history.

But then an old friend crept up on the Orange and spurred an 11-4 Blue Devils run. The final score read 16-10 in Duke’s favor and faceoffs were the decisive factor.

“We’ve worked on them a ton,” redshirt junior midfielder Henry Schoonmaker said of faceoffs. “Last year that was like our downfall so it’s something we have to figure out.”

The Orange will get its first shot to rectify problems at the X on Saturday, when Le Moyne and Hofstra visit the Carrier Dome for a three-way scrimmage at 10 a.m. SU still hasn’t solidified its faceoff core, but head coach John Desko named Chris Daddio, Ricky Buhr and junior college transfer Mike Iacono as those who will get faceoff opportunities this weekend.

Cal Paduda missed the previous week of practice with a hand injury and is questionable, but he’s in the mix moving forward. Desko said he will be back soon.

Le Moyne and Hofstra don’t present the stiff competition the team will see in its first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but the tuneup will be a good measuring stick for where the Syracuse faceoff unit stands.

“It was a point of emphasis when we walked off the field after our last game last year,” Desko said. “We’ve been doing it so much in the fall.”

In last year’s national championship, Duke’s Brendan Fowler handcuffed the Orange and pushed the Blue Devils to the title. He took 20 of the game’s 30 total faceoffs and lined up for all but two.

On the other hand, SU tried six different players at the X. Daddio finished the game 0-for-4 and Paduda 3-for-13. As Desko has expressed many times this preseason, he’d love to find a guy, like Fowler, that he could rely on to keep the ball in his offense’s hands.

On Tuesday, Desko didn’t reveal much, but hinted that Iacono could be a possible answer.

“He’s been very competitive,” Desko said. “Sometimes it’s a matchup issue where he’s done better than a couple of guys he’s going against. He’s been very comfortable coming in and he’s good when he picks it up. He’s probably the best guy we have after he gets the ball, too.”

Iacono joined the Orange last week along with fellow junior college transfer Randy Staats. In a decorated career at Nassau Community College on Long Island, he was a two-time NJCAA All-American, led the Lions to two straight national title games and won 78 percent of his faceoffs that were recorded.

At 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds Iacono is the biggest guy in the faceoffs mix and is looking to bring a deliberate approach to the X this season.

The junior midfielder says he always starts the same way and can do every one of his moves out of that position, so defenders don’t get any advantage.

It’s an approach that has worked well with him since breaking in with SU.

“All the faceoff guys are well-rounded athletes,” Iacono said. “For me, I feel like it’s going to be tougher to get a starting spot, but when I do I’ll definitely keep it held down.”

The Orange still has time to solidify the faceoff position, but Saturday’s scrimmage is one of the final chances leading up to the team’s season-opening game against Siena on Feb. 10.

Figuring out the X is on everyone’s agenda, and Iacono assessed the coming season by breaking the game into two spheres.

“Lacrosse is all about X play and goalies. Everybody knows that,” Iacono said. “If you don’t have a good X man, you’re never going to get the ball to score. That’s what it comes down to.”

Published on January 22, 2014 at 11:51 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse