biglidde's Blog

The Syracuse University men's lacrosse team won a 9-8 thriller against St. John's on Saturday  at DaSilva Memorial Field in Jamaica, New York. It was a cold day in southern New York, but that didn't stop both Orange and Red Storm fans from showing up in full force. The game was close throughout, but the Orange had a slight 2-1 advantage after the first quarter. The Red Storm surged in the second and took a 4-3 lead into halftime, thanks in part to two goals from Kevin Cernuto. The game was tied at 5-5 after the third quarter, and then in the fourth, with 1:25 left, Tim Desko found the back of the net and sealed the Orange victory. 

Here's three thoughts from the game:

1. Kevin Drew is officially back.

Before this season started, many weren't sure if Kevin Drew would take the field this season after offseason trouble with the law. He wasn't seen during the preseason scrimmages or the first two home games against Albany and Army. But last weekend against Virginia, Drew took the field and wasn't much of a factor. This week's game against St. John's was a different story. Drew came out and scored two goals on his only two shots. He also helped the Orange clear the ball. If the goalie or one of the close defensemen can get the ball to Drew, he will singlehandedly clear it. Orange fans should be happy that he's back because he will make a big difference this season. After the game, coach John Desko said he is still catching up on his conditioning but helped in a big way today. 

2. Ground balls and face-offs are becoming an issue.

After starting the season with a couple of solid performances at the X, the Orange seem to have lost it. Last week against Virginia, the Orange struggled, and those struggles continued today. Chris Daddio, the go-to face off guy, got just 3-of-12 face-offs. Ricky Buhr, the backup go-to face-off guy, got just 2-of-5. So coach Desko finally acted and put a long stick, Brian Megill, at the X to take face-offs. Megill was able to win 3-of-4 face-offs and kept the Orange in the game in the fourth quarter. His long stick allowed him to reach further than his opponent and pick up the ball before the wings got involved in the play. But I doubt coach Desko wants Megill taking face-offs for the rest of the season, so this needs to get sorted out as soon as possible. 

3. The Orange are still searching for their identity in net.

Will it be Matt Lerman or Dominic Lamolinara? No one really knows. Neither of them shined today, and the race for the starting job is still a dead heat. Each goalie let four goals in today. Lerman had six saves through the first two quarters, and Lamolinara had two saves through his half. Lerman let by some really easy ones, but Lamolinara wasn't challenged like Lerman was. Either way, the Orange's next opponent is their rival Johns Hopkins, and without a solid goalkeeper, the Blue Jays will be tough to beat. 

The Syracuse men’s lacrosse team mounted a comeback in the final minute of the fourth quarter Sunday to beat No. 7 Maryland 11-9 in the first scrimmage of the afternoon. The Orange then fell to Canisius 11-10 after a Golden Griffin goal with one second left on the clock.

The last time Syracuse played against Maryland was during the quarterfinals of last year's NCAA tournament. The Orange lost in overtime in that game.

On Sunday, Maryland came out firing and scored two goals on goalie Matt Lerman, who played in the first half of the Maryland scrimmage. Goals from Orange midfielders Hakeem Lecky and Luke Cometti tied the game before the Terrapins scored two more to take a 4-2 lead after the first quarter. The final goal of the quarter came with a second left on a desperation shot from 30 yards away, and the Orange finished the quarter down by two.

In the second quarter, Maryland scored two more goals to extend the lead to 6-2. The Orange had five shots on goal but couldn’t find the back of the net. At the half, Lerman took a seat and former Terrapin Dominic Lamolinara took over.  The sophomore transferred from Maryland after his freshman season last year and is excited to wear Orange.

 “I wanted to go to Syracuse before going to Maryland.” he said. “I came up here to visit my junior year, and it was a perfect fit for me. It just didn’t work out [before].”

Lamolinara started off strong and only gave up one goal on five shots in the third quarter. That’s when the Orange offense came to life, with two quick goals from Tim Desko and Collin Donahue. Kevin Rice and Tommy Palasek both added unassisted goals to bring the Orange within one.

Syracuse eventually tied the score in the fourth quarter, but then Maryland scored two more goals to retake the lead with three minutes left. Scott Loy scored and cut the Maryland lead to one. With 49 seconds left, Bobby Eilers scored off an assist from JoJo Marasco to tie the game at 9-9. Rice scored the go-ahead goal with 16 seconds left in regulation to win.

The second-half comeback against Maryland can be credited to good goalkeeping, offensive execution and solid play at the X. The Orange won six of eight faceoffs in the fourth. However, the Terps played the final quarter with mostly backups, so the numbers are slightly misleading.

Head coach John Desko played primarily backups against Canisius and gave the starters a break after a hard-fought Maryland game. The Orange led by as many as five goals in the third quarter, but Canisius went on to score six unanswered goals on their way to victory.

“We’re definitely not in midseason form,” Desko said. “But mentally we’re ready to go, and as coaches, we’re going to spend a lot of time the next couple days watching film and evaluating what we saw on the field.”

The Orange will take the field at the Carrier Dome next Sunday at 2 p.m. for its first regular-season matchup against Albany. 

The Supreme Court decided today to hear the case challenging President Obama's 2010 health care bill. The Supreme Court will hear appeals from the decision by the United States Court of Appeals 11th Circuit in Atlanta. The court said the plan oversteps congressional power and it can't "regulate commerce" or "lay and collect taxes," according to the New York Times. 

The Health Care Plan aimed at getting health insurance for all uninsured Americans. The plan also prohibited insurers to deny a patient coverage due to a pre-existing condition. The controversial part is that the plan requires most people to purchase health care by 2014. If they don't, they face a tax penalty. 

"This is going to be the most heavily covered Supreme Court case in history," Washington lawyer Thomas Goldstein told USA Today. "This will run from today until summer."

The case in scheduled to be heard by March and the ruling would be delivered by the end of June. This is significant because it is right on the eve of the 2012 Presidential elections and will likely be a focal point of campaigns. 

The National Federation of Business is one of the main opponents of the law.

"For the small-business community, this comes not a day too soon," said Dan Danner, the company's CEO, to CNN. "The health care law has not lived up to its promises of reducing costs, allowing citizens to keep their coverage or improving a cumbersome system that has long been a burden to small-business owners and employees, alike. The small-business community can now have hope; their voices are going to be heard in the nations highest court."

But White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer says he thinks the law will hold up.

"We know the Affordable Care act is constitutional and are confident the Supreme Court will agree," he said in a news statement to CNN.

Many have called this the marquee piece of legislation during President Obama's term. 

Thumbnail photo by BeckyF.

It was a sad day for not only IndyCar fans, but sports fans all around the world on Sunday. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and familiar face in the racing world, Dan Wheldon, died after a 15-car collision at Las Vegas Motor Speedway just 11 laps into the final race of the season. 

Wheldon was rushed to University Medical Center after the crash and the news of his death was delivered by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard shortly after.

"IndyCar is sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," Bernard said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today."

When the news of Wheldon's death was announced, Bernard and the drivers decided to cancel the remainder of the race. Instead, the drivers who weren't involved the in collision participated in a five-lap salute to honor Wheldon. 

Safety concerns

"We all had a bad feeling about this place, in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat," driver Oriol Servia said, according to CBS News. "We knew it could happen, but it's just really sad."

Other drivers were worried about reaching speeds of 225 m.p.h. on this particular track.

"The fact of the matter is, you're dealing with very, very fast automobiles," Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim said, according to CNN. "There is, unfortunately, an assumption of risk when you get into one of those race cars."

Wheldon's contributions

Safety has recently been a major concern in IndyCar racing. According to USA Today, Wheldon was working with IndyCar and the car company Dallara to add more safety features. The most important of those features is bodywork covering the rear tires, which would prevent cars from being launched in the air, like Wheldon's was on Sunday. 

"Dan was a true professional and a great ambassador for the sport," British Driver Derek Warwick said, according to CBS News. "He was highly focused in the way he approached his racing and a real perfectionist."

Photo by DVIDSHUB.