Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange look to bounce back against Albany

The Syracuse Orange look to avenge last week’s upset loss to Colgate with their annual matchup with the Albany Great Danes Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. Opening faceoff is set for 4 PM on ACC Network Extra (Live Stats are here).

The Orange lead the all-time series 15-2. Both of their losses have come this decade.

But the Big Story...

Sophomore midfielder Tucker Dordevic is officially done for the season, Orange head coach John Desko said on Wednesday. Dordevic will redshirt and rehab in time for next season. As a freshman a year ago, the Oregon native started all 15 games and put up 15 goals and five assists for the Orange. David Lipka assumed his spot in the starting lineup last week.

Dordevic suffered the foot injury back in the fall. After missing spring scrimmages, he was cleared to practice prior to the Colgate game, but re-aggravated the injury last week. Desko mentioned last week it could be a serious injury, but it was certain from inside the program that Dordevic wouldn’t play this season.

But he could still have a big impact on the offense.

Last Time They Met

Last season, the Great Danes crushed the Orange 15-3 in the Dome with an 11-2 second half run. In his first collegiate game, Tehoka Nanticoke scored five goals on 15 shots while Jakob Patterson added four goals of his own. Connor Fields had a pair of goals and assists, and TD Ierlan went 16-of-21 from the faceoff X with a goal. JD Colarusso made 10 stops for Albany.

On the opposite side, Syracuse got goals from Jamie Trimboli, Nate Solomon, and Kevin Hutchings. Dom Madonna made 11 saves in goal in what was a quiet game for the Orange. It also marked Albany’s second ever win against Syracuse, with their first coming back in 2013 in double overtime.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY: ALBANY

A ton has changed for Albany. Fields, Justin Reh, Kyle McClancy, Josh Egan, Stone Sims, Troy Reh, and AJ Kluck have graduated. Ierlan transferred to Yale, while associate head coach Liam Gleason became the head coach at Siena.

At attack, Patterson will move down from midfield to his preferred position. The third spot is up for grabs between Davis Diamond, Mitch Laffin, Teioshontathe McComber, and Corey Yunker.

Albany runs a different kind of midfield called a “four man.” It includes a converted attackman and two two-way midfielders. Sean Eccles, along with brothers Alex and Jack Burgmaster will probably be the main guys on that first line. Also look for Noah Taylor, Ron John, Peter Schwab, Steve Ramirez, Declan Palandijan, Sam Swingruber, and Ryan Smith as well. The faceoff option will not include TD Ierlan, and that’s tough. Look out for sophomores Austin Jones and Anthony Altimari out there for the Danes. That could give the Orange an advantage.

All three starting defensemen in Matt Perla, Erik Dluhy, and Connor Filipowski are all back. They even have Steven Kunz and Michael Kozar for depth options. Those two could also get time at LSM, which should include Sean Gleason and freshman Tanner Hay. In goal will be junior Nate Siekierski, who saw plenty of some time in their NCAA semifinal blowout against Yale.

Things To Know

Here’s interviews of Desko and Curry.

Some good news from the season opener: LSM Jared Fernandez made his return to the field after suffering a season-ending ACL injury against Virginia last March. Here’s more from Lindsay Kramer of Syracuse.com:

“You sit out for close to a year, just being able to play lacrosse, it’s a blessing. And being able to be back out there, and just competing again is a great feeling. So I was pretty excited about that,’’ he said of his return. “I think you definitely feel a little bit rusty going into it. And having a limited amount of time to practice before I even go into the games was a big factor as well. So just kind of getting back out there and just being able to play in the first game was pretty big.’’

After his surgery to repair the tear, Fernandez rehabbed at home in Florida. He missed all of SU’s fall lacrosse season.

”The toughest part is just kind of not knowing. Everybody always talks about, ‘Oh, you’re not going to be the same player,’’’ Fernandez said. “But then you see guys like Brett Kennedy, who has torn his ACL twice, and he’s arguably one of our best players on the team right now. So, just for me, it was just kind of keeping my faith and trying to stay positive and knowing that there’s going to be tough days, and days where I feel like I feel down. And just kind of keeping the faith, and saying that I can push through this.’’

With his new job with the men’s lacrosse program, Ryan Powell hopes it can turn into an eventual head coaching position.

Enjoy the weekend of college lacrosse! There’s a ton of other games beginning today (including Loyola-Johns Hopkins), so make sure you enjoy what the sport has to offer!

As I mentioned last week, these preview posts will also act as the GameThread for those games. It’ll be tough for me to do separate ones since I’ll probably be working during most games and can’t interact. And as a matter of fact, I’ll be working during the game!