A national championship was falling further and further away from Syracuse with every faceoff that Duke won.

And there was nothing that Mike Iacono, a faceoff specialist himself, could do about it. He was in his living room 150 miles away, watching on television as his future team collapsed.

“Even before the Duke game, I knew they needed help at the X,” Iacono said. “After they called me, I just pretty much locked my phone up and said, ‘I’m going there.’”

It took longer than Iacono had hoped, but he’s set to wear orange this season. A two-time All-American at Nassau Community College on Long Island, the midfielder has transferred to Syracuse this semester to try to resolve the Orange’s issues at the faceoff X. The 6-foot-5 Iacono offers potential mismatches at the X, where he looks to overpower midfielders who line up opposite him.

He also brings championship experience to SU. In both of his two years playing at Nassau, the Lions reached the National Junior College Athletic Association championship game, but lost to Onondaga Community College each time. At Smithtown (N.Y.) High School West, the Bulls reached the Suffolk County Championship twice during Iacono’s career, but also fell short both times.

“I’ve been in four championships since I’ve been playing, so it’s time for me to get one” Iacono said, before looking out at his new teammates. “And it’s time for these guys to get one.”

Iacono was raised in Smithtown — the lacrosse hotbed that is Long Island. He wasn’t always a lacrosse player, though.

He wrestled from seventh to 11th grade, which has influenced the physical, low-to-the-ground approach he takes to the X. He played ice hockey, too — until his mother Lisa forced him to decide between hockey and lacrosse when he was in second grade.

The thought of continuing to wake up at 5 a.m. for hockey didn’t thrill Iacono. Lacrosse it was.

He developed into a competent midfielder, until he nonchalantly gave faceoffs a shot in middle school and loved it. He honed his technique in high school, where he won 57.5 percent of his faceoffs as a senior and all-county selection.

But his grades weren’t up to par. He received inquiries from Ivy League schools, but knew he had no shot of getting into them. Hofstra, Stony Brook and Drexel expressed interest, but his academics didn’t cut it there either.

“He kind of had high hopes in high school, but things didn’t work out because he’s not strong academically,” Lisa Iacono said. “So he went to Nassau, and I wouldn’t consider it a high point, but I’d have to say it was probably the best thing that could’ve happened for him.”

The midfielder, disappointed not to be playing at the Division I level, was nearly on the verge of quitting, his mother said. But Nassau head coach George Powers helped Iacono straighten himself out.

The head coach motivated Iacono to stick with it, and both of their persistence paid off. As Nassau’s primary faceoff specialist, he earned the NJCAA Region XV MVP in 2013 and won 78 percent of his faceoffs that were recorded as he led the Lions to a national title game appearance for the second straight year.

“He was the heart and soul of the team for two years,” Powers said. “The way we played was predicated on him getting us the ball.”

One phone call was all it took for Iacono to be sold on committing to the Orange. But before he could get his Division I career started, he needed more credits before he could officially transfer to SU.

Iacono took four classes online in the fall, and said he hated every minute he spent sitting in his room. He’d practice faceoffs, but had no one to go up against — and he’s seeing the repercussions of that now.

But he took it upon himself to stay in shape, even if it meant going to the gym by himself. He’d go four times a week, running a mile each trip until he got his time down to 6:30.

He primed himself for the highest level of competition he’s ever faced. Competition he’ll embrace, like he always has.

“If you don’t win faceoffs and you don’t have the ball, you’re not going to win the game,” Iacono said. “For that split second it’s just you, and then your team.”

The whistle blows, and Iacono goes to work.

The hardest part, he said, is getting the ball. He goes with the motorcycle grip, his palms facing down. Unlike the other Syracuse faceoff specialists, Iacono never drops to his knees — he stands tall on his two legs throughout the whole battle.

“I can’t remember him being out-hustled or out-leveraged off the ball, with him being so high above his opponent,” Powers said.

Once Iacono controls the ball, he pops it out ahead to himself. By not leaving his feet, he allows himself to pounce on the ground ball, and suddenly he’s a foot ahead of the opposing midfielder.

A couple of long strides later, he’s 5-feet-ahead. And with his experience as a midfielder, he said, he has the vision to move the ball downfield, start the fast break and make the right pass.

“In the past, we haven’t made good decisions as far as picking the ball up and knowing where to find the open man,” SU head coach John Desko said. “We’d like him to be the one getting to the ball first and getting it out first.

“…But we need him to step up and start winning the faceoff himself right now, instead of reacting to somebody.”

Iacono is the No. 2 faceoff option for SU behind Chris Daddio going into this year, but he’s not worried. He’s lined up against Division I-caliber faceoff specialists in his past summer leagues, and just needs the time to prove his own strengths and separate himself from Syracuse’s other faceoff specialists.

Then his ride will be complete.

“I just have to start showing the coaches the difference between what happens when I get the ball from when they get the ball,” Iacono said. “The decisions I make from what they make, and how fast I get the ball and how fast I get it out.

“Every day I wake up, I’m ready to go. There’s no stopping me now.”

Published on February 13, 2014 at 1:30 am

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