Syracuse gathered for the sixth annual Orange Alumni Classic on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. The current SU squad defeated the Alumni All-Stars 11-9 in the first organized game of the year for the Orange.

Having graduated seven of 10 starters from last year, head coach John Desko took full advantage of the exhibition match to mix and match a variety of players in new spots.

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Jordan Evans hasn’t had the chance to flourish in Syracuse’s attack during his first two years like he did in high school as the top-rated recruit. With senior Dylan Donahue the only returning member of last year’s attack trio of Kevin Rice and Randy Staats, Evans is finally going to have his shot in SU’s front line.

He anchored the attack on Saturday with Donahue, converting his first goal by sweeping around the back of the crease and splitting two defenders before firing.

“I’m very happy to be back on attack,” Evans said. “It’s been a long time coming.

“Me and Dylan have been working a lot together and I’m trying to get that chemistry that him and Kevin had last year.”

The junior attack primarily commanded the offense from the X position behind the net, much like Rice did. The departures of Rice and Staats mean the Orange is without nearly one-third of its points from last season.

“It’s definitely hard to follow in (Rice’s) footsteps,” Evans said. “This is a whole new team. People are going to find their new roles and hopefully I can find mine.”

In the Nick of time

Syracuse added two new offensive options during the off-season, accepting transfer junior attack Nick Mariano from UMass and fifth-year senior attack Nick Piroli from Brown.

Piroli didn’t see the field on Saturday, but Evans described him as a smart attack that doesn’t make many mistakes. He was largely a distributor for the Bears last season, notching 24 assists to complement his 10 goals.

Mariano played both midfield and attack — something Desko said can be expected from him — and scored his only goal while jogging away from the crease before blindly swinging his stick around and slotting the ball in the upper-right corner of the net.

“I’m just trying to better the team with whatever I can do,” Mariano said. “Whether it’s attack or wherever coach Donahue thinks I can play, I just want to win games and I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

Desko said the third spot on the attack is an open competition. He highlighted Mariano and Piroli as two potential fits in the spot, but it was senior Tim Barber who got the nod at the start of this game.

“There’s a lot of people to try and figure out,” Desko said. “We’re working hard, we’re trying to figure it out. In the past we haven’t had to.”

Filling in the blanks

The graduations of Nicky Galasso, Hakeem Lecky and Henry Schoonmaker have left the first-line midfield completely open.

Desko estimated with the attack-heavy roster he has, it’s possible that Mariano, Piroli and Barber could end up as the first-line midfield so they can bring their offensive presence to the field more frequently.

Junior Nick Weston and redshirt senior Tom Grimm also got significant playing time, typically replacing wings Scott Firman and Paolo Ciferri after faceoffs. The two wings often flanked senior Cal Paduda, taking faceoffs in place of Ben Williams, who’s recovering from a “procedure” to ensure his health in the spring.

Ciferri and Firman are two candidates to replace departed wings Mike Messina and Peter Macartney, who were second and third respectively on the team in ground balls and comprised an elite faceoff group.

“We need to figure out who the wings are for sure,” Desko said. “… Today it was probably disappointing we didn’t get more ground balls off the faceoffs on the wing. We need to get better at it.”

Goalkeeper Warren Hill started for the Orange after graduating Bobby Wardwell last year. The senior netminder made a handful of saves in his only quarter of action, eventually relenting to redshirt junior Evan Molloy — who Desko said has impressed in practice dating back to last year.

“We started Warren because he was the backup, but they both played really well,” Desko said. “There’s a competition going on.”

SU’s defense is the only real line of consistency from last year, returning starters Jay McDermott and Brandon Mullins. The final defensive spot is another up for grabs, and freshman Nick Mellin garnered postgame attention.

He started the first and third quarters with Mullins, McDermott and the other expected starters. A youth movement for Syracuse’s defense is emerging as a possibility after leaning so heavily on seniority the past few seasons.

“If we have a freshman slightly ahead of an upperclassman then we’re gonna go with a freshman,” Desko said. “If (Mellin) makes some mistakes, so be it and we’ll be better at the end of the year.”

Published on October 10, 2015 at 9:19 pm

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