John Desko hopes Saturday will be a regular lacrosse game for Syracuse.

But chances are, Syracuse’s showdown with Massachusetts at 2 p.m. in the Carrier Dome will be anything but normal. There’s too much bad blood for that.

The matchup, once a late-season afterthought – SU won 22 straight from 1982-2002 – has become one of the sport’s most bitter rivalries during the last five years, which have featured showboating, public mockery, trash talking, a broken jaw and the end of SU’s two most hallowed streaks.

‘I’m not sure it’s been a real healthy rivalry,’ the SU head coach Desko said. ‘… It’s not like anything you see in the sport of lacrosse. We haven’t always gotten along very well, but we hope to play this as just a regular lacrosse game.’

Even with No. 2 Syracuse (11-1), on a nine-game winning streak and securely in the playoffs, the team can’t deny its thirst for a win over UMass (5-7). The rivalry has quickly become ingrained in SU lore, right next to the nine national titles and the legend of 22.

‘Once you come to Syracuse, you learn about that real quickly,’ senior defenseman Evan Brady said of the rivalry. ‘That’s part of your history now, too.’

How it got to this point is easy to see. It started back in the 2003 matchup, when UMass defenseman Justin Walker jammed his stick under the facemask of SU midfielder Steve Vallone and broke his jaw. The Minutemen won the game for the first time in 22 years, and Vallone lost the chance to play in the final four.

The next year looked like a return to normalcy, with SU holding a big lead late in the game at the Carrier Dome. But SU attack Mike Powell stirred things up with his now-infamous frontflip shot, with most of the starters already on the bench.

The move obviously infuriated the Minutemen. The next year, after UMass’ Jeff Zywicki quashed an SU comeback with an overtime goal to beat the Orange, he celebrated with a somersault in front of the SU bench, a clear mockery of Powell’s flip.

‘They did a little somersault, with that whole thing my sophomore year,’ Brady said. ‘I definitely mark it as a rivalry since I’ve been here, probably not before that time. Since that time, definitely.’

Two weeks later, UMass ended Syracuse’s 22-year final four streak with a 16-15 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The ball hadn’t even dropped on the 2006 matchup before controversy started brewing. In the days before the game, SU players abandoned all notions of politeness when asked about the Minutemen. Midfielder Brian Crockett said he ‘didn’t have a whole lot of respect for them.’ Attack Brett Bucktooth said SU was going to put the Minutemen ‘back where they belong’ after the team became overconfident with two wins over the Orange.

Desko benched the two players for the opening minutes of the game for the comments. SU won anyway, 12-7, but it was clear the Minutemen had it in their heads they could play with Syracuse.

‘A lot of teams, they always play their best against us, they want to knock us off,’ SU attack Kenny Nims said. ‘For a lot of teams, if they can get a win against us, it can make their whole season.’

But in 2007, it was Syracuse that needed to make it season. SU limped into the UMass game at 5-6, decimated by injuries and suspensions and in need of a win to stay eligible for the postseason. UMass pulled out a 9-7 victory and sent SU home without the postseason for the first time in 24 years.

The tables have turned this year, though. Syracuse is a lock for the NCAA tournament and is merely fighting for seeding. UMass, meanwhile, was rocked by the suspension of eight players before the season and currently sits at 5-7. The team needs to finish with two wins to stay eligible for the postseason.

Don’t expect any pity from the Orange, though. In the season that has been dubbed the ‘revenge tour,’ there’s no denying the importance of a win over SU’s newest rival in the home finale.

‘There’s definitely no need to get these guys motivated,’ freshman goalie John Galloway said. ‘They’re ready to go, and they’ve kind of talked to us about there’s no need to get excited for the UMass game because once you walk on the field and see those guys, you know what has happened the last couple of years, we’re going to be ready to play.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on April 25, 2008 at 12:00 pm