Depth will be key to Syracuse victory

Cornell not deep enough to keep up with Orange

OXBOROUGH, Mass. —

FWhen it comes to overall depth, few teams can match Syracuse, and that will be the major factor in today's Division I championship game between No. 2 seed Syracuse and No. 5 Cornell.

Syracuse (15-2) is loaded with talent, and the Orange loves to rotate players, even on attack. Cornell's first group can match Syracuse's first group, but after that the Orange has a major advantage. If Cornell (13-3) can control Syracuse on the transition and the pace of the game, then the Big Red has a shot.

If not, Syracuse could run away with a second straight national championship, its 11th overall.

"I think confidence plays a factor in that if you can get up early, like you saw yesterday, our guys played with a lot of poise, but I don't get the sense that if we go down by three goals with this group that we have that there is going to be a lack of confidence or a panic button at this point," Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni said.

"It's going to be important, but more importantly, is going to be our guys' ability to commit to 60 minutes of lacrosse and just stay poised whether we're up by three or down by three. Syracuse is a team that can really put a lot on you in small bunches at a time."

You can predict how Cornell will play on offense. The Big Red will be methodical with attackmen Rob Pannell and Ryan Hurley playing the two-man game behind the net. It will use the clock, and at the same time look for cutters coming off high picks.

The Big Red used the strategy well in its 15-6 upset win against Virginia in the semifinals. The Cavaliers didn't decide to apply pressure defense until late in the first half, and by then Cornell had a 7-2 lead. The game was virtually over.

Syracuse won't make the same mistake. The Orange will pressure the Big Red all over the field, especially in the midfield, because that's where this game will be won. Syracuse has three strong midfields, including a splendid one on the defensive side with short-stick middies Jovan Miller, Kevin Drew and long pole Joel White.

Offensively, Syracuse can run two midfields without losing much firepower. It's not that way with Cornell. The Big Red has a great first unit with John Glynn (20 goals, 8 assists), Rocco Romero (16, 11) and Max Seibald (26, 10), but after that it's a bunch of no-names.

So, look for the Orange to push the ball from defense to offense. Syracuse wants to keep constant pressure on Cornell and not allow the Big Red to get Seibald and Glynn off the field. The idea is to make both those players stay on as long as possible and wear them down.

The Orange has a numbers advantage on attack, as well. Most teams play with three, but the Orange starts Stephen Keogh (47, 6), Kenny Nims (31, 42) and Chris Daniello (20, 3) and rotates in Tim Desko (13, 4) and Cody Jamieson (7, 2).

The Orange attacks in waves because Syracuse can shock and awe an opponent. The Orange is unrelenting, especially on offense, where it averages 15 goals a game. Syracuse has scored 13 or more goals in 10 games this season.

It's an improbable task for Cornell to upset Syracuse today, but not impossible. The Big Red plays the perfect style to pull off the victory. Besides being methodical on offense, Glynn is the top faceoff specialist in the college game, which means Cornell will get its share of possessions. The Big Red has a 564-434 advantage in ground balls over its opponents this season, and few teams can outhit the Big Red.

Cornell has a great work ethic, and fortunately for the Big Red, it didn't have to expend a lot of energy in its win over Virginia. Unfortunately for Cornell, neither did Syracuse in the Orange's lopsided victory over Duke.

"In practice, no matter what drill it has been, we've taken a much more focused look at how we're doing controlling the pace of the game," Seibald said. "If we can focus on that tomorrow, I think we have a good chance at the end."

There are two magic numbers for this game, and the first one is 11. If Cornell can hold Syracuse to fewer than 11 goals, the Big Red can win. The other is 13. Cornell goalie Jake Myers has to make somewhere near 13 saves to keep the Big Red in the game because Syracuse will get its share of shots.

One way or another, Syracuse always puts on pressure. The Orange can do that because of an abundance of talent, which wears down an opponent. And it will probably happen today against Cornell because the Big Red has had only two days to recover from its previous game.

It's a near-perfect opportunity for Syracuse.

Today's game

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