Jeremy Thompson sprinted upfield. He flew by Maryland defenders and spotted teammate Stephen Keogh alone in front of the net.

Keogh caught the pass in front of the crease and bounced it in past Brian Phipps with one minute and 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

With that, Syracuse finally found the back of the net in the last tuneup of the preseason against No. 8 Maryland. For the first 14 minutes the Orange got plenty of shots off. The problem was they sailed high, wide, left and right. The ball ricocheted off the orange panels behind the Maryland net time and time again.

‘It was frustrating in the beginning, but you just have to keep shooting,’ said attack Chris Daniello, who scored three goals on the day. ‘We looked much better on offense today, especially in the second half after we started a little slow. We have to come whistle ready, but we didn’t rush as much as last Sunday.’

At the end of the first period the Orange had attempted 12 shots, compared to just three from the Terrapins. It dominated the ball and worked each possession instead of forcing the action. There were virtually no unforced turnovers. It was comfortable and patient in the set offense.

Though they just had one goal to show for it, the improvement from a week ago was clear.

‘I thought we adjusted from the film and were more patient offensively,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘We tried to get more touches in and let the guys get more comfortable. We just tried to keep it simple.’

After nearly a period of scoreless action, all the Orange needed was Keogh’s goal to kick-start an offense that was determined to bounce back after turnovers and sloppy play plagued it during its first two scrimmages.

With seven minutes remaining in the second quarter, freshman JoJo Marasco fed redshirt freshman Ryan Barber on the left side for a goal. Four minutes later Pete Coleman got in on the action, putting the Orange up 3-0. With less than a minute to play in the half, goalie John Galloway fired a 50-yard clear to Daniello, who ducked inside and beat Phipps again to put the Orange up 4-1 heading into the half.

The offense members started to click for the first time all preseason. They did not let early frustration continue. They didn’t let the constant lineup changes affect their rhythm. And most importantly, they slowed down and worked for good shots. The offensive performance the rest of the way made a disappointing first period seem like a distant memory.

‘We had a lot of shots we didn’t finish, but they were coming, so you cannot complain about that,’ longstick midfielder Joel White said. ‘We are going to start burying goals because you can only stop Stephen Keogh and Cody Jamieson for so long.’

The faceoff

After Jeremy Thompson had an impressive showing in faceoffs throughout the first two scrimmages, Gavin Jenkinson stole the show against Maryland.

The senior midfielder took seven faceoffs against the Terrapins, winning four of them. His success resulted in extra possessions for an Orange team that benefited from dominating the ball offensively for most of the game.

The 6-foot-1, 218-pound Jenkinson has a very different style than the speedy Thompson. Instead of relying on quickness, Jenkinson tries to use his strength to his advantage.

‘I try to use a little more weight under it and bury it and flick it back,’ Jenkinson said. ‘I use my strength and size especially against smaller guys I try to put my weight on the ball.’

Jenkinson’s productivity against Maryland came as a pleasant surprise for Desko.

‘We were all disappointed in Gavin’s numbers from last week,’ Desko said. ‘I know some of it was wing play and we didn’t do a good job boxing out, but I thought he did a good job today.’

Thompson also continued his success in faceoffs, winning four of six. It appears to be a two-headed monster that will vary game to game and even faceoff to faceoff.

‘Certain guys will match up against certain guys, and it is not always black and white when you get on the field,’ Desko said. ‘It is also about who has the hot hand.’

Tough conditions

Maryland came into the scrimmage against Syracuse ranked No. 8 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse preseason poll. While they certainly did not look the part, the Terrapins had reason to be rusty.

Major snowstorms robbed Maryland of practice and scrimmage time. Two scrimmages and a couple of practices had to be cancelled. To beat the weather last week, the team practiced at odd hours and even traveled to the University of Delaware for some practice time.

The Terrapins committed 11 turnovers in the first half and only attempted seven shots going into halftime.

This was Maryland’s first and only tuneup before its regular season kicks off on Saturday against Bellarmine.

The lack of a full field was something Desko sympathized with.

‘Talking to the Maryland coach afterward, they have had to deal with what we deal with at times,’ Desko said. ‘(It was) not a full field, and they were a bit rusty coming in.’

restern@syr.edu