The season is officially six days old, but it’s already crunch time for Syracuse lacrosse.

If recent history is any guide, Sunday’s 3:30 p.m. matchup against Army (1-0) in the Carrier Dome will go a long way toward determining the course of this season. In each of the past three seasons, the Orange has followed up a win in its opener with a loss in game two.

It’s a fact Syracuse head coach John Desko would rather forget.

‘Well, I haven’t paid much attention to that stat,’ Desko said when it was brought up.

It’s troubling, because the 10-year head coach knows week two has been just the beginning. Last year, the 8-6 loss to Army in game two started a skid in which SU lost six of eight games and finished 5-8. In 2006, week two was the first of four losses. In 2005, it was the first of three.

The fact that No. 8 Syracuse (1-0) hasn’t had a winning record five games into the season since 2004 is something the players are cognizant of. Syracuse has grown accustomed to consistently working from behind to keep its postseason hopes alive as early as late February.

In the aftermath of missing the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time in a quarter-century, the players immediately keyed in on the first five games of the season.

‘To come out strong this week is going to be real important for us,’ attack Kenny Nims said. ‘Especially for the rest of the season.’

Syracuse will play Army a year and a day after it came into the Carrier Dome and beat Syracuse for the first time in 11 tries. The Black Knights then proceeded to have the type of start typical of a Syracuse team – winning six of their first seven games.

Upsetting then-No. 2 ranked Syracuse in the Dome will provide the confidence necessary for such a start. Midfielder Dan Hardy knows Army will be itching to repeat Sunday.

‘They’ll be ready for us,’ Hardy said. ‘They’re going to be strong, and they’re going to be ready to go.’

Looking ahead to Sunday, Desko isn’t allowing his team to take too much pride in its 21-6 drubbing of Villanova in its opener last Sunday. When asked what his team needed to improve on, after a game in which SU scored 20 goals for only the second time in four years while giving up fewer goals than it did in any game last year, Desko responded ‘everything.’

‘We’re nowhere close to where we want to be,’ Desko said, before softening his words. ‘But you get off to such a good start, scoring some goals, playing well on the defensive end of the field, winning some faceoffs. It’s a great way to start the season.’

The players echoed Desko’s words. They know Villanova is a club that lost 12 players, including six starters from last season, and pales in comparison to some of the juggernauts the Orange will see in the coming weeks. Syracuse’s first five games include matchups with No. 1 Johns Hopkins and No. 3 Virginia.

Facing off against up-and-coming Army, which was two spots out of this week’s top 20, the players aren’t expecting quite the offensive output they enjoyed last week.

‘We realize they weren’t as strong as the Hopkins and Virginias,’ Nims said. ‘But if we play hard like we did that game we’re going to be tough for other teams to stop.’

Desko said he will review the film from last year’s loss and Army’s 16-3 week one win against Virginia Military Academy. But he didn’t need to go over film to remember one player: Army goalie Adam Fullerton, who recorded 16 saves while holding Syracuse to only six goals.

The fact that Syracuse shot more than 50 percent last week is encouraging, but Desko knows he will need a solid effort from attack to take pressure off his defense.

‘We have to shoot well on this goaltender,’ Desko said. ‘He’s going to be one of the best goalies we go against. Not that anyone has a bad one anymore.’

For Nims, Sunday will be telling of which direction Syracuse is poised to go in 2008.

‘The first five games will tell you a lot about your team and where you’re at,’ Nims said. ‘We think it’s going to tell us where we’re at in the season.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on February 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm