Men's lacrosse

Syracuse ends preseason with scrimmage victories over Towson, Bucknell

Wrapping up its final preseason preparations, Syracuse hosted Towson and Bucknell at the Ensley Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon. SU took down Towson, 13-9, before defeating Bucknell 13-3 in the one scrimmage open to the media.

Here are a few takeaways from the Orange’s final tune-up before the regular season begins Saturday against Siena.

Return man

Ralph D’Agostino is back with SU this season after transferring to Furman to play there last season. Head coach John Desko said the 5-foot-8 defender is definitely “in the mix” to get some time with the defensive unit, and hadn’t been able to appear in a scrimmage for the Orange until today because of NCAA paperwork.

Desko said he likes to have D’Agostino out there for certain situations, and the junior may find more playing time in a defensive unit with only one senior.



“He has some traits where he’s able to cover certain attackman better than others and we need that in our defense,” Desko said.

Owning the X

Through three quarters of the Bucknell matchup, Syracuse took 15 faceoffs and won eight of them. Sophomore midfielder Ben Williams took 14 out of 15 faceoffs, and appears to have solidified the starting spot going into the regular season.

Cal Paduda was the only SU player besides Williams to take a faceoff Saturday. Paduda broke his wrist early last year and hasn’t appeared in a game for the Orange since the 2013 NCAA Championship against Duke.

“I think (Williams) is definitely our No. 1 guy,” attack Kevin Rice said. “Cal Paduda has done a great job as well… So I think we’ve got a couple options there if one guy’s not firing.

“It’s nice to hopefully get some good position this year.”

Desko said on Tuesday that with SU’s lack of faceoff depth the past couple years, it created good competition between freshmen, upperclassmen and transfers alike who all have the mindset that they can be the go-to guy.

Containing the pressure

The Bison brings forth a 10-man ride, an uncommon defensive strategy equivalent to a full-court press in basketball. The goalie temporarily vacates his crease and helps orchestrate the defensive push, which Bucknell head coach Frank Fedorjaka said Syracuse handled well.

SU’s highly touted group of attacks takes attention away from Orange defenders, who will have to be just as productive if Syracuse is to make a deep run into the postseason.

Fedorjaka praised the Orange defenders for minimizing chances for the Bison, only allowing three goals through three quarters.

“(Syracuse) did a great job on ball and made us work for everything they got,” Fedorjaka said. “They forced some turnovers, they put pressure on you and we didn’t handle it as well as we wanted to at times.”





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