Maybe it's best not to analyze No. 4 Johns Hopkins. Just ignore the first 30 minutes and fast forward to the second half.

The most unpredictable team in men's lacrosse quickly revived a stagnant offense and threw in a little trickery on defense to race back from a four-goal halftime deficit for the second time in three weeks, surprising No. 3 Syracuse, 12-10, yesterday in front of 6,120 fans at Homewood Field.

Syracuse (3-1), which had just returned from a weeklong stay in Florida, was shut out for the final 12: 44 in its most futile half this season. The Blue Jays (2-1), only eight days removed from one of their most embarrassing efforts in memory, outscored the Orangemen 8-2 in the second half and sandbagged them for good on sophomore Conor Denihan's 12-yard shot with 6: 57 left in the game.

"We took a beating on Friday night [March 12] and we were knocked on our backsides," Hopkins' first-year coach John Haus said. "But we stood back up, came out and played a pretty solid ballgame."

So with their best playmaker in street clothes, the Blue Jays converted just one of their last 25 shots of the first half. But remember this is mysterious Hopkins, a team that rebounded from a four-goal deficit in a season-opening victory over three-time defending national champion Princeton and then flopped when faced with a five-goal deficit against Loyola.

So which Blue Jays team would show up for yesterday's second half? They answered through their execution.

Taking four fewer shots than the previous half, the Blue Jays doubled their output, scor ing eight goals on their last 24 shots by moving off ball, setting well-timed picks and varying their shot selection.

Hopkins junior attackman Dan Denihan scored all three of his goals in the second half and put the Blue Jays ahead 10-9 just two minutes into the fourth quarter, when he peeled around the crease past defenseman Josh Ruhle.

After the Orangemen's Matt Cutia tied the game 28 seconds later, Conor Denihan angled a shot inside the left post for an 11-10 Hopkins advantage. Then Eric Wedin, standing 18 yards out on the right wing, hit the same mark from the same angle with 3: 08 remaining to seal the victory.

"I don't think it fazes us much being down," said Conor Denihan, who played in the first midfield because A. J. Haugen was out with a hamstring tear. "We know we have the talent to come right back. We feed off coming back."

Goalkeeper Rob Mulligan kept Syracuse close by stopping 25 shots, but reacted slowly to the last two goals scored from the perimeter.

"I don't know if they knew where the sun was, but both those shots were right in line with the sun," he said. "I'm not saying I would have had them if the sun wasn't there, but it definitely was a factor."

Now shift to the new-look Hopkins defense.

In the first half, the Blue Jays fouled repeatedly, being flagged three times in a 33-second span of the second quarter. Syracuse scored twice on those extra-man situations to cap a 5-1 run to end the first half and take an 8-4 halftime lead.

The Orangemen then appeared as if they were still on spring break in the third quarter, when they turned the ball over five times and took only three shots. But Syracuse's fourth-quarter ineptness was a result of Hopkins alternating between its zone and man-to-man defenses.

"I could see them talking between each other," Hopkins defenseman Rob Doerr said. "They didn't know what was going on. We switched back and forth, and threw them for a little loop."

"We were a little surprised to see a zone today, but we have zone offenses ready," Syracuse coach John Desko said. "They will work against most zone defenses when run with some execution and composure. It made us slow it down and think about it a little bit."

The zone moved the short-stick defenders up top with long-pole midfielder Brendan Shook while the close defensemen packed in the middle. It removes the ability to maneuver freely around the Blue Jays' short sticks and forces strong-dodging teams like Syracuse to move the ball.

It negated the Orangemen, who never solved the zone and scored just once in the fourth quarter on nine shots.

So was this specifically designed for the Orangemen?

"Let's just say we call it Orange," Haus said smiling.

And on offense, Hopkins called on Dan Denihan.

Rolling from behind the goal, Denihan placed in two tight shots in a matter of two minutes to close the Blue Jays to within 8-7 only five minutes into the third quarter. And when Syracuse tied the game at 9 on a last-second Cutia goal to end the third, Denihan scored again to open the fourth before setting the stage for his younger brother's game-winner.

"I felt I needed to be more of a presence out there," Dan Denihan said. "Not that I was laying back in the first two games, but I felt it was my time to step up."

Syracuse 5 3 1 1 -- 10

Johns Hopkins 3 1 5 3 -- 12

Goals: S--Cutia 4, Solliday, C. Cordisco, Coffman, Darcangelo, Powell, Caione; JH--D. Denihan 3, C. Denihan 2, O'Kelly 2, Rabuano, R. Quinn, Moolenaar, Schlott, Wedin. Assists: S--Powell 3, Abrams 2, Cutia, Caione; JH--D. Denihan 2, Frattarola, Shaberly, Wedin. Saves: S--Mulligan 25; JH--Carcaterra 9.

Pub Date: 3/21/99