In 1979, faceoffs were eliminated from college lacrosse.

But it was a one-year change. By 1980, they were reintroduced. And while collegiate coaches — including Syracuse head coach John Desko — have voiced displeasure toward faceoffs’ prominence in the game, their prominence persists.

While SU faceoff specialist Chris Daddio has been inconsistent this season, and the Orange’s struggles at the X in recent program history, faceoffs have been a hot topic in Central New York.

So The Daily Orange spoke to five of the top 12 faceoff men in college lacrosse to uncover the intricacies of the X.

The Daily Orange: What makes a faceoff specialist special?

Charlie Raffa (Maryland): You have to have that competitive side, that grit. The one who has the most heart is usually the better guy.

Joseph Nardella (Rutgers): A lot of things go into it. You’ve got to have a good work ethic. There are a lot of nuances and techniques involved and you’ve got to have that desire to win every loose ball.

Kyle Rowe (Stony Brook): You have to have quick hands. You have to be able to do whatever move you’re going to do as quickly as possible, as soon as the whistle blows. Also, a short-term memory. You can’t think about the last faceoff, you’ve got to be thinking about the next one.

The D.O.: What’s your mindset heading into faceoffs?

Brendan Fowler (Duke): If I’ve lost any faceoffs before that one, I just try to figure out why I lost it, whether I was slow on the whistle or he did a move or something.

Nardella: I try to do the same thing every time — try not to get nervous, take deep breaths. As soon as the ref says, ‘Down,’ just focus on that one part of the ball, breathing and trying to block everything else out.

Raffa: I just stare at the ball and concentrate on that. I want to put my mind at rest. Before the whistle I hold my breath so I can anticipate the whistle faster and react faster.

The D.O: What’s your technique?

Fowler: I’m a clamp guy, but I’m not necessarily a really quick in-and-out guy. I try to stay low and muscle in there and make sure I have the ball before I come out with it.

Nardella: Primarily, I’m looking to clamp down on the ball and hopefully get it forward, create some quick offense. I guess what makes me different than everybody else is I like to scrap for the ball a lot, too. I won’t just clamp. I’ll rake, I’ll jam. I just try to keep the opponent guessing.

Nick Saputo (Drexel): I am a “knee down” faceoff guy. I put my right knee on the turf when I get in my stance. This is the most important part of my technique. It gives me the balance I need to be able to battle for the ball.

Rowe: I like to clamp it and then if I get the clamp quickly enough, I try to pinch and pop. If not, I’ll just pinch it in and try to pull it back to myself or to the side.

The D.O.: How do you practice faceoffs? Are there any specific off-field workouts you like?

Nardella: The key is going against good guys every day in practice. As far as workouts, anything that’s helping your core strength, like pushups, sit-ups. Anything that helps your balance is great. And then obviously the upper body stuff, forearm curls and leg stuff like squats.

Raffa: I have voice recordings of different snap counts on my iPhone that I can play through a speaker so I get used to long whistles and short whistles. Matt Schomburg (faceoff instructor) has these voice recordings that do faceoff counts. He sent them to me and I play them pretty much every day so I get used to anticipating that whistle.

Rowe: We have a pretty specific warmup we go through. We first do hops over the ball, and then we do one-handed clamps. Then we do 50 percents where one person starts halfway clamped.

Saputo: For at least an hour of each practice I am practicing faceoffs with one of our assistant coaches and the other two FOGOs. As far as off the field goes, there isn’t much other than reviewing film. Doing forearm exercise is big and really the only weight room exercise specifically good for FOGOs.

The D.O.: What is the role of the referee in faceoffs?

Fowler: I think the refs do a really good job of communicating with us. As the game goes on they’ll warn us about stuff. If we violate, they’ll tell us why. If they’re going to hold the whistle, they’ll say, “We’re waiting here, don’t anticipate it, I’m going to put a long pause between set and whistle.” If you’re doing something they don’t like, they’ll say it.

Nardella: The refs are a huge part of it. They’ve been pretty good the past two years, with the rule changes and not really trying to trick guys. I try not to worry about the refs too much. But if things aren’t really going my way and I think the kid is getting an unfair advantage, the refs are pretty open to listening.

Raffa: The referees are always different, so you’re never going to have the same exact whistle every time. Sometimes they vary it up, so you can never really anticipate the whistle. The different refs are usually pretty different. You’ve just got to be ready after ‘Set’ for that whistle to blow.

Rowe: I would never question a ref about their specific snap count. By the rules, they’re allowed to change it however they want. That’s just something you’ve got to practice for by doing different whistles when you’re by yourself.

The D.O.: What do you think about taking faceoffs out of the game?

Nardella: I don’t think it would be best for the game. Personally, I don’t foresee it happening, just because it’s engrained in the tradition of the game. It makes lacrosse competitive. A lot of the people complain about it because they don’t have good faceoff guys or don’t really know how to coach it.

Raffa: If it does happen, obviously, guys will have to try to change positions. Honestly, lacrosse was made with faceoffs, so I don’t see a reason to get rid of it.

Rowe: To be honest, I think that’s probably coming from teams that don’t win a lot of faceoffs. I think that without them, it would completely change the game because, how else would a team come back from five goals in the fourth quarter if you can’t win a faceoff?

Saputo: In the end, faceoffs are the best way to give each team an equal chance to get the ball. To my knowledge the people in the lacrosse community that want faceoffs out of the game are ones who are not doing well in that aspect.

Published on April 16, 2014 at 1:50 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu