Syracuse to Play Albany in Carrier Dome Tripleheader
from press release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The eighth-ranked Orange (0-0), winners of the 2010 and 2011 BIG EAST regular-season championships, host America East foe Albany (0-0) Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. in the Carrier Dome in the season opener for both teams. The clash is the second game of a Division I college lacrosse tripleheader at the Dome. Rutgers and Air Force start things off at 11 a.m. Hobart and Siena wrap up of the day at 5 p.m.
Tickets are available online at SUathletics.com, over the phone (1-888-DOMETIX), or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office during normal business hours. Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for youth ages 12 and under. 'Cuse Kids Club members get in free with their membership card. Parking is $10.
The Syracuse-Albany game and the Hobart-Siena game will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports and the Orange and Great Danes will also air on SportsNet New York (SNY). Fans can hear the action live on the radio on ESPN Radio 97.7 in Syracuse. Live stats and live video for all three games will be available on SUathletics.com (NOTE: Video of the Air Force-Rutgers game will not have audio).
Syracuse posted a 15-2 overall record in 2011 and made its 31st NCAA Tournament appearance, advancing to the quarterfinals before losing in overtime to eventual national runner-up Maryland. The Great Danes were 5-10 a year ago and did not win a conference game.
SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS
SU owns an all-time record of 74-18 (.804) in season-opening games.
It is 33-9 in campaign starters since 1970 and has won 15 straight,
including all 13 under head coach John Desko. The Orange defeated
Denver (13-7) in last year's season opener.
COMETTI FACES FORMER MATES
Syracuse junior midfielder Luke Cometti (Syracuse, N.Y.) is
certainly familiar with the Albany program. Cometti played the 2009
and 2010 seasons for the Great Danes before deciding to transfer to
Syracuse for the 2011-12 academic year. At Albany, Cometti tallied
11 goals and six assists in 21 career games. He was named to the
2009 America East Conference All-Rookie Team.
FAMILY AFFAIR
SU sophomore Matt Harris (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) will not be the only
Harris on the field Sunday. His younger brother, Kevin, is a rookie
defenseman at Albany. Matt played in 16 games last season as a
backup long-stick middie. Kevin was a 2011 first-team all-state
selection in Illinois. The Harris brothers attended the Stevenson
School.
PALASEK AND DESKO LEAD ATTACK
Veteran attackmen Tommy Palasek (Rocky Point, N.Y.) and Tim Desko
(Syracuse, N.Y.) combined for 36 goals and 21 assists in 2011.
Palasek played every game last year, starting eight in place of
Desko after Desko went down with an injury. He tallied 35 points
and tied for the team assists lead with 18. Desko notched 16 goals
and three assists in just 10 games and was named to the All-BIG
EAST Second Team.
MEGILL ANCHORS ORANGE "D"
Junior defenseman Brian Megill (Clark, N.J.) is the only returning
starter on close defense from last season. Voted the co-BIG EAST
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Megill recorded 34 ground
balls and led the team's close defenders with 27 caused turnovers.
Megill has started all 32 games since his freshman year.
ORANGE MIDFIELD FEATURES UNFAMILIAR FACES
Several new names are penciled into this year's midfield rotation.
Among them is junior captain JoJo Marasco (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.),
who started every game on attack last year. Marasco is SU's
returning leader in both points (41) and goals (23) and he is
expected to play more up top this year. Others new faces include
redshirt freshmen Hakeem Lecky (Nantucket, Mass.) and Henry
Schoonmaker (Portland, Ore.), Cometti and Onondaga Community
College product Matt Pratt (Binghamton, N.Y.).
Senior captain Bobby Eilers (Simsbury, Conn.) and redshirt junior Steve Ianzito (Clay, N.Y.) are SU's top returning midfielder scorers from 2011. Both players notched eight points. Ianzito on five goals and three assists, and Eilers on eight goals, all of which came in the Orange's last 10 games.
NEW NETMINDERS
With the graduation of NCAA all-time wins and minutes played leader
John Galloway, Syracuse will have a new goalie for the first time
since Galloway stepped in as a freshman in 2008. The Orange have
seven netminders on the roster vying to succeed him. Redshirt
sophomore Matthew Lerman (Villanova, Pa.) and true sophomore
Dominic Lamolinara (Arnold, Md.) received the lion's share of
playing time in the preseason. Lerman was Galloway's backup in
2011. He appeared in seven games and totaled eight saves.
Lamolinara spent last season at Maryland before transferring to
Syracuse in the fall of 2011. He played in three games and stopped
three shots for the Terps.
SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
Albany is coming off a 5-10 campaign and did not win an America
East Conference game for the first time in its history. This
season, the league's coaches picked the Great Danes to finish third
in the conference standings behind favorite Hartford and Stony
Brook.
Albany returns three of its top four point producers from last season. Senior attackman Joe Resetarits is the team's offensive leader. He paced the Great Danes in points (44) and goals (31) in 2011. Resetarits is complemented offensively by the the Thompson trio - brothers Miles and Lyle, and cousin Ty. Miles Thompson ranked second to Resetarits last year in points (41) and goals (29). Ty Thompson contributed 26 goals and 30 total points. Lyle Thompson, a freshman, was one of the top recruits in the nation coming out of nearby LaFayette High School. Miles and Lyle are the younger brothers of former SU midfielder Jeremy Thompson.
Sophomore Edmund Cathers, who started 14 of the team's 15 games a year ago in goal, is reportedly ineligible. Senior John Carroll and freshman Max Huber are the other goalies on the Albany roster. Carroll played in nine games last season with one start. He totaled 23 saves.
Head coach Scott Marr is entering his 12th season with the Great Danes. Marr owns an overall record of 90-79. Under his direction, Albany has won four America East titles and reached the NCAA quarterfinals in 2007. For his efforts, Marr was named the 2007 USILA Division I Coach of the Year.
THE SERIES WITH ALBANY
The Orange has won all nine meetings with the Great Danes. The two
schools have played every season since 2004, including twice that
year as SU and Albany met in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.
All nine pairings have taken place at the Carrier Dome and SU has
scored at least 10 goals in each contest. The 2005 and 2006
meetings were the most competitive with Syracuse emerging as
one-goal victors both times.
UP NEXT
The Orange will host Patriot League opponent Army on Sunday, Feb.
26 at 2 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse won last year's meeting,
11-9.
