Sophomore midfielder Jordan Evans didn’t play in No. 4 Syracuse’s (1-0) 21-7 win over the Siena (0-1) on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome due to a lower-body injury, SU head coach John Desko said.

Desko didn’t seem too worried about the near future of a player whose potential fell well short in his first year because of injury.

“Lower-body extremity injury or something like that,” Desko said. “We expect him back.”

Before Syracuse’s season opener against Siena, Evans donned an all-gray jumpsuit with orange sneakers on the sideline while the rest of his teammates warmed up on the field.

Evans, who’s expected to be a second-line midfielder, watched from the sideline as SU’s midfield unit scored six of the team’s nine goals in the first half. Instead of him, it was Tim Barber, Nick Weston and Sergio Salcido as the primary three on the second line.

Nine different midfielders scored for Syracuse, so Evans’ absence didn’t hurt the Orange’s production from the unit in the slightest.

And while Desko praised his second- and third-line midfielders for shouldering more of the scoring load than normal, he also implied that the sophomore who’d normally be in that group may not be returning to action right away.

Said Desko: “It’s going week by week right now.”

Published on February 7, 2015 at 7:19 pm

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