After Syracuse’s season opener two weeks ago, Jakob Phaup’s old high school coach texted him. “Solid start, great job on GBs, did a real nice job,” Mark Princehorn typed from over 300 miles away.

“Thanks coach, could have been better,” Phaup responded. He had gone 15-for-22 against Colgate at the X while picking up a game-high 11 ground balls. But that should’ve been 20-for-22, he said.

“He’s the guy who’s never complacent,” Princehorn said. “He’s a kid who’s never satisfied.”

Last season, Phaup won 60.6% of his face-offs for the Orange (2-0), helping SU up its team face-off percentage by over 8%. That led to 98 more shots than 2018. Through two games in 2020, that number’s up to 71.9% through two games, ranking fifth in the nation. But Phaup wants to be perfect, not for his benefit but for the rest of Syracuse’s offense.

In Phaup’s sophomore year at Souderton Area (Pennsylvania) High School, he won more than 50% of the draws against Harry S. Truman High School. But against a 5-13 team, Phaup was expected to win 90%, if not higher, Princehorn said. Phaup mentioned that game for the rest of high school.

The next year, Phaup’s Souderton team was down by two goals with three minutes left in the game. He went up to their team manager, Kevin, and told him, “Hey, I’m doing this for you.” Phaup won the ensuing face-off and scored a goal to bring it to within one. Then he did it again to tie the game.

“I’ll always remember because it’s the confidence, but then telling somebody that he’s going to do it for them,” Princehorn said. “It was on not doing it for himself but doing it for someone else, and then going out and doing it.”

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Throughout high school, Phaup taped his season goals to the inside of his locker. Originally, Phaup wanted to break his high school’s records. Then he wanted all-state recognition. Finally, he wrote Division I college player.

During that time, Phaup worked out at the Philly Face-Off League and The Faceoff Academy. Mike Gurenlian at The Faceoff Academy remembered Phaup constantly asking about his technique. When guys win face-offs off hand speed or pure strength, bad habits can form, Gurenlian said. That was never a problem with Phaup.

“It’s a borderline obsession with getting that feedback,” Gurenlian said.

After his freshman year at SU, Phaup texted Gurenlian about setting up a camp with college players so they could get reps in throughout the summer. At that point, Phaup hadn’t won the starting job at Syracuse and only took 12 face-offs. But last summer, when he went back, he’d become the guy everyone else at The Face-off Academy wanted to challenge.

Once he won the starting job from Danny Varello, Phaup led the Atlantic Coast Conference in face-off percentage. But in the first round, the Orange were eliminated by Loyola with Phaup going 9-for-21. Before most of his team had left the field, Phaup texted Princehorn how upset he was. He felt he was to blame for SU’s loss.

“The game against Loyola crushed me,” Phaup said. “And I was like, I don’t want to ever have that feeling again.”

A week later, Phaup asked his mom, Beth Phaup, to make a chart. It listed all his “bad” games from last season, Phaup said. His 2-for-5 performance against North Carolina in the regular season, when Varello received the majority of the draws. A 9-for-19 outing against the Tar Heels, this time in the ACC tournament. And at the bottom, his 42.8% showing against Loyola when SU’s season came to a halt. The chart now sits on top of his closet facing his bed at home.

Phaup plans to keep it up there all season.

Published on February 20, 2020 at 12:00 am

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