Syracuse poses huge challenge

No matter what the Syracuse men's lacrosse team does, wins seem to be the result. "Syracuse is so good they go out with very little game plan," Penn defender Scott Ignall said. "They can throw the ball around and beat you." Against a team like that, what are the Quakers supposed to do? Penn (4-7) expects the No. 4 Orangemen to be confident when the teams face off at the Carrier Dome tomorrow. In fact, the Quakers are counting on it. "Our main advantage is their overconfidence," midfielder Andrew Greenberg said. "If they're well-disciplined they'll be harder to beat. I don't know if winning this game is possible just through hard work, but we're willing to work harder than they are." This will be the 20th meeting between the two teams, with Syracuse (8-2) holding an impressive 17-1-1 lead in the series. Penn's lone win came in the 1919 season. Despite the long odds against them, the Quakers are not feeling pressured. They hope by staying within their game plan, they will be able to force Syracuse to play with them. "Syracuse is going to get in our face all over the field," Penn coach Terry Corcoran said. "They're going to come right after us and try to take the ball away. They're not going to let us sit on the ball. They'll force us to go to the cage. The key is getting the ball in our end, and stopping them defensively." The Quakers may try a different style against Syracuse. Instead of trying to beat the Orangemen in a run-and-gun game, Penn wants to slow the pace down. Though they are not used to that type of game, the Quakers think it is necessary to neutralize the dominating Syracuse offense. "We can allow them to maintain control of the game, if we consistently stay within a goal or two," Greenberg said. "We need to keep the ball out of their offensive end and slow the game down." The Quakers will have to take advantage of Syracuse errors. Luckily, with the fast and loose style the Orangemen enjoy playing, there may be many of them. "They're not as solid on the fundamentals as on the flashy parts of the game," Greenberg said. "It may work to our advantage if they're undisciplined, but it'll be an uphill battle." The Orangemen do have some weaknesses. They are not a very team-oriented squad, instead boasting a set of outstanding individual players. Stopping midfielder Roy Colsey, who Ignall described as "very big, very strong, very fast and very dominant," alone will be a tough task for the Penn defenders. And Syracuse has more than just one offensive threat. The Orangemen have posted double-figure goal totals in 38 of their last 39 games. Colsey and attacker Casey Powell share the team scoring lead with 28 goals apiece. Scoring goals has not been a big problem for Penn this season either. The Quakers will be counting on their top offensive trio -- attackers Andy Crofton and Jon Cusson and midfielder John Ward -- to continue their past successes. When the teams face off tomorrow, one thing is certain: There will be a lot of offense, from both squads. "We're looking to capitalize on our ability to play within a system," Ignall said. "I expect a lot of shots and a lot of scoring. It's just a question of how many goals they'll score."

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