Men's Lacrosse

Jordan Evans feels fully healthy, flourishes for Syracuse after early-season injury

Frankie Prijatel | Photo Editor

Jordan Evans has emerged on the second-line midfield for Syracuse. The sophomore has scored five points in his last three games.

Jordan Evans picked up a ground ball and ran away from the crease. He came to a halt in three hard steps and swiveled his body around and through the two Albany defenders chasing him from behind.

He tossed a cross-crease pass to Nick Weston, who fired his shot in the back of the net. Evans said he thought to himself after he made his move on the defenders, “I’m back.”

“It’s not easy to come back from an injury that early and be as explosive as you were,” Weston said about Evans. “I definitely think he’s making his way back to where he should be.”

Evans’ left knee buckled while running on the turf field just a week before the season-opener, and he thought his season was over. Doctors revealed the injury was minor, and the sophomore midfielder is finally playing with confidence, notching five points in No. 4 Syracuse’s (9-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) last three games.

The initial 48 hours after the injury were déjà vu for Evans and the coaching staff as they waited to hear the diagnosis. The 5-foot-9 midfielder missed part of last season with a left ankle injury and didn’t live up to the hype as the top-rated freshman in college lacrosse.



So when shown the MRI results that his knee injury was minor, he went up to men’s lacrosse trainer Troy Gerlt and gave him a hug.

“Going out to practice that day, I definitely had a glow to my face,” Evans said. “Everyone was coming up to me saying congratulations.

“It turned my mind around, it turned my mental stability around as far as wanting to get back.”

But Evans couldn’t even run at the time. He worked every day for two hours building up the muscles around his knee, the same regimen someone with a torn ACL would follow.

His persistency in his workouts cut a one-month prognosis in half to just two weeks of rehab. Evans played limited minutes early in the season as he struggled to trust that his knee could hold up under the pressure of sprinting and dodging.

It wasn’t until that opening possession for him in the Albany game when he felt fully able again. He parlayed a successful few weeks into his first career start on Tuesday against Hobart.

“I think he’s getting more comfortable and faster out there,” midfielder Nicky Galasso said. “I think he was a little bit hesitant with the knee at first but now he’s producing a point here and there in games.”

Galasso praised Evans for recently showcasing his ability to dodge defenders from behind, something both midfielders are familiar with from playing attack as younger players.

The early success against the Great Danes prompted Evans to experiment with trying full-speed dodges again on the short-stick defenders guarding him.

The score sheet would indicate he’s succeeded in exploiting the short-stick defender recently, and he said when he hasn’t, his fellow second-line midfielders have been there for him to distribute to.

“He’s always had great vision,” Weston said of Evans. “It’s very easy to play with him, he always has his head up and we know where each other are.”

Evans has established himself as a mainstay on a strong second-line midfield unit that will be asked to step up to the first line next season. Head coach John Desko said he believes Evans is now playing his best lacrosse of the season.

Evans echoed much of the same thought, and he’s glad he can start a new chapter of his career and not repeat the same one from last season.

“I’ve had to deal with these things both years now,” Evans said. “so I’m just lucky that it didn’t keep me out.”





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