Men's Lacrosse

Matt Lane settles in at midfield after career at attack

Logan Reidsma | Senior Staff Photographer

Matt Lane has scored two goals and four assists this season for Syracuse. He's found his role at midfield with the Orange.

Just last year, Matt Lane wasn’t exactly himself. He played attack for most of his lacrosse career. He was his high school’s all-time leader in points.

But none of that is what Syracuse needed.

SU needed him to act out the playing styles of physical midfielders like Duke’s Myles Jones, Notre Dame’s Sergio Perkovic and Cornell’s Connor Buczek, among others.

“I realized that I really wanted to play midfield,” Lane said of imitating those players, “because I was doing it for the scout team and I kind of liked more of the dodging perspective.”

While Lane mimicked some of the best players in the country, Syracuse toyed with moving him to the midfield. Although it wasn’t a defining factor, Lane knew he wanted to play like Jones as he watched the Duke midfielder’s tape last season.



This season, the move to midfield has benefited Lane and No. 3 Syracuse (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast), which hosts St. John’s (1-5) on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. He’s started two games this season and played in two others. To make the move, Lane spent more time in the weight room and changed his diet. By Lane’s estimation, he’s gotten to play in his first meaningful games since he played at Montclair Kimberly (New Jersey) Academy. So far, the 6-foot-7 sophomore has scored two goals and assisted on four others.

“This year we felt his strength, especially with his outside shooting, would be in front of the goal, head coach John Desko said. “So we thought his best opportunity for him to play would be in the midfield right now.”

On the scout team, Lane was tasked with translating film on bigger midfielders into his play in practice.

He watched Jones and took note of his physicality. Jones showed Lane how to use his body and get into the defender early to set up a dodge.

He watched Perkovic and took note of his shot. Perkovic showed Lane not to hesitate before shooting.

He watched Buczek and took note of his ability to shoot on the run. Buczek showed Lane pairing an on-the-run shot with a long frame makes him even more dangerous.

Lane was one of a few players to stay in Syracuse during Winter Break to get extra reps and work out. He said he mentally shut off any thoughts that were telling him he was out of shape when he got to Syracuse, but he flipped that last season.

“I really realized that my body style and my playing style wasn’t going to be able to be effective if I was playing midfield the whole time,” Lane said. “I went to (assistant strength and conditioning coach Matt Mancz) and I told him I would do anything he felt possible.”

He worked with Mancz, who helped Lane take carbohydrates out of his diet and add protein. Lane slimmed down 20 pounds and would run on the treadmill until he couldn’t run anymore. Now with his size, Lane has become more fit. He was a matchup problem before, but has become even more of one now.

“You’re used to playing smaller quicker-type guys,” defender Brandon Mullins said. “So when you go against a bigger guy like that … you have to get into him a little earlier.”

Lane’s biggest adjustments have taken place off the field — in the weight room and film room, particularly — and his production has helped Syracuse in games against Albany and Army, in particular.

He no longer gets gassed on the field or so tired that it hurts his ability to think on the field. Desko called him “lean and mean.” And the work he put together off the field has helped Lane figure out his place on it.

“When I was redshirting and last year, I was like, ‘Wow, I should be playing right now. I could help the team this way,’” Lane said, “and now that I actually am in that role, it’s really … come full circle.”





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