Syracuse Lacrosse: Take a second to thank the Dome gods

As the old adage goes, “The lacrosse season doesn’t really start until the Syracuse Orange take the field.” I believe its traced back to King Henry, big lax guy, look it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England

So on the eve of another season we give thanks. We give thanks to the Dome gods for many things but especially:

…the defense. Is this the best defensive unit in the country? I think we are in a wait and see mode but without a doubt it should be top 10. Nick Mellen is back and hopefully he returns to his freshman year form. An athletic long pole, Mellen can shut down attackmen with his quick feet and athletic ability. Then there’s Tyson Bomberry who can move the ball upfield in a matter of seconds. The transition game this year could be huge. At the long stick midfielder position there is Austin Fusco. The Orange come off of a season in which it gave up just 10 goals a game and were the best clearing team in the nation. What is really fantastic, is that all three of these guys will be playing together in 2019 as well.

...the roof. Just go ask all those people at the Olympics. Roofs matter. Enjoy that Dome life.

…the mumps. Sure we had some soldiers succumb to the gory disease, but you know who else had the mumps? Sidney Crosby. He’s the worst, but he’s damn good. It only goes after the good players.

…experience in net. The Orange lose a stud in Evan Molloy, but the presumed starter, Dominic Madonna is experienced. The Liverpool native played 31 games at Merrimack College sporting a 7.76 GAA and 57.1 save percentage. The talent level is certainly better in division I, but Dom’s been practicing with these guys for over a year now and he killed at the division II level so I am very optimistic this will be a fit. Backing him up is Drake Porter and Willie Klan, who showed an incredible ability playing for the Team USA squad in the Under-19 World Championships.

…Liam Banks. Liam Banks is a Syracuse alumnus and the owner of LB3 Lacrosse, which has been growing the game in the Atlanta area. Thanks to my movie selection, all I know about Atlanta is that everyone plays on a drumline and the roller skating rink is the hottest place in town on a Saturday night. What I also know, however, is that the area is a blooming battleground for recruiting in college lacrosse. The LB3 program produced current attackman Nate Solomon, the first high school All-American in the state of Georgia. Solomon had 22 goals and five assists in 2017 as a sophomore and will be a leader on offense this year. Glad we have boots on the ground down there.

...cash money y’all. Didn’t you hear? Syracuse spends more on it’s lacrosse programs than any other school in the nation. The real question is that money spent on? No clue, but I have some ideas on what it could be spent on, call me.

…a heck of a schedule. Even though Rutgers lost a star in Adam Charalambides (ask me to spell that again) and the Naval Academy took an early loss to the Syracuse South Jacksonville Jaguars Dolphins the Orange will play at least six National Championship contenders in a schedule that is about as loaded as I can remember. Get excited, because this will be fun.

… the Native American tradition. We all know about once red hot connection between the Iroquois Nation and SU which has gone a little soft in recent years. That being said, SU has two Native American stars right now. Brendan Bomberry transferred in from the Denver Pioneers last year making an immediate impact with 20 goals and six assists. He transferred to a roster that already included his cousin Tyson on defense.

…freshman. We have a lot of interesting newcomers this year. Keep an eye out for Troy Lauder (M), Tucker Dordevic (M), Lucas Quinn (M), and Owen Seebold (A).

This is a defensive year. At least that’s the way it seems at the start. That being said there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the optimistic, namely Jamie Trimboli, Nate Solomon, Brendan Bomberry and Stephen Rehfuss.