CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — For the second straight game, Syracuse has inserted a new player into its starting lineup.

On Saturday night against Virginia, sophomore defender Jay McDermott made his first start of the year, playing alongside redshirt sophomore Brandon Mullins and junior Sean Young on the first defensive unit.

SU head coach John Desko and goalkeeper Dominic Lamolinara both said they thought McDermott played well. The junior, who replaced redshirt sophomore Bobby Tait, picked up two ground balls.

“Jay had been playing very well in practice,” Desko said. “Mentally, he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. You can see he’s out there in man-down situations, which speaks to his lacrosse IQ. He just had been playing well. It was time to get him out there and give him an opportunity.”

Syracuse midfielder Scott Loy said McDermott had a few breakdowns at first, but started to play better as the game wore on. But like most of the SU defense, he couldn’t hold Cavaliers attack James Pannell in check.

On Virginia’s second goal, McDermott let Pannell slip right behind him in front of the SU net. Greg Coholan found Pannell right on the doorstep and Pannell scored his first of seven goals.

On the Cavaliers seventh goal — Pannell’s fourth — Pannell went around McDermott, took a pass from Ryan Tucker and fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

Said Desko of McDermott: “(McDermott) made a couple mistakes, but for his first game, that’s going to happen. I think you’re going to see him get better and better.”

Published on March 2, 2014 at 1:06 am

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