PHILADELPHIA — Henry Schoonmaker was greeted with an unusual scene as he marched onto Lincoln Financial Field with his teammates: a swarm of attention.

He isn’t a Tewaaraton Award finalist like JoJo Marasco, a superstar defender like Brian Megill, or even his team’s joint leading goal scorer like Luke Cometti, but Schoonmaker joined the three as All-Americans on Thursday and was the first Syracuse player approached for an interview as a result.

“He’s had some great games for us,” Marasco said. “You look back to the Princeton game and that kind of put him on the mark and it’s just a great honor and I’m very happy for him and hopefully he can keep going through these next two games.”

A second-line midfielder, Schoonmaker tallied 18 goals and five assists this season. His 23 points rank third among SU midfielders, one ahead of starting midfielder Scott Loy. He’s part of a ludicrously deep group of weapons that make it nearly impossible for opponents, such as No. 4-seed Denver, to fully prepare for the top-seeded Orange. Syracuse will square off with the Pioneers on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Philadelphia in the final four.

Schoonmaker, who started two games when Loy was out with a leg injury, was one of 10 players who scored in double figures this season and one of seven with at least 22 points.

“I think team is the word to best describe us,” SU head coach John Desko said. “ … Our offense certainly hasn’t been one individual. It’s been the six guys out there.”

It’s an almost insolvable problem for opposing coaches. When even backups are garnering All-America honors, how is it possible to stop everyone?

Oftentimes the answer is simple: it’s not. When Marasco gets cut off, one the Orange’s attacks can score. When the starters aren’t getting it done, Syracuse can turn to its second line, featuring an All-American.

There’s no go-to scorer — the closest thing is Marasco, who primarily operates as a facilitator — but with unparalleled depth, it becomes more of a problem for opponents than for the team lacking the sure-thing offensive option.

“What they’ve got is a bunch of really good players that are unselfish, really seem to like one another,” Denver head coach Bill Tierney said. “They can all pass, they can all shoot, but nobody’s that, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s your 80-goal guy.’

“Where’s the weak link? There is none. Who do we concentrate on? All of them.”

Published on May 24, 2013 at 2:06 am

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