In the past 10 years, Syracuse has averaged 11.5 goals per game or less only three times. But those three times have come in the past three seasons.

SU head coach John Desko and his players believe this is the year SU’s offensive fortune will be take a turn for the better. The Orange returns almost 70 percent of its scoring from last season, while infusing promising offensive talent.

“We all work so well together,” junior attack Kevin Rice said. “I think it could be our strongest part of the field this year.”

On Monday night at 7 p.m., the Orange will unveil several new offensive weapons in its season-opener against Siena in the Carrier Dome. The Saints were ranked No. 44 of 63 teams in goals-allowed per game last season.

For Syracuse, JoJo Marasco and Luke Cometti — who combined for 58 goals last season — are gone from last year’s team.

But in steps North Carolina-transfer Nicky Galasso, who is still recovering from a preseason injury, No. 1 recruit Jordan Evans and Onondaga Community College transfer Randy Staats.

Not to mention the return of Rice, Dylan Donahue, Derek Maltz, Hakeem Lecky and Henry Schoonmaker.

“I think we can put a first midfield out there that’s experienced, an attack that’s experienced with a sub or two and the second middies have been playing really well,” Desko said.

In the team’s first scrimmages of the preseason against Hofstra and Le Moyne on Jan. 25, Rice created from behind the cage and finished with eight assists — five of which were goals scored by Donahue.

The first goal of the day was scored by Evans just three minutes into the game. The freshman flew through the center of the defense and fired a shot past Hofstra keeper Chris Selva.

In the team’s 13-12 victory over Towson in a scrimmage on Feb. 1, nine different players scored. Four of those players are listed as middies, four are listed as attack and one is listed as a hybrid attack/midfielder.

“We have a lot of people who can play both attack and midfield,” said Galasso, who is listed as an attack/midfielder. “We have a great attack and we have a lot of people coming back, so we’re excited. We have the firepower and we’re ready to go.

“We’re all very anxious and very excited to get going.”

Another player who could be on the verge of a breakout season is Lecky, who will transition from the second-line midfield to the first, along with Schoonmaker. Both Desko and Maltz praised Lecky as one of the most athletic players on the team, and someone who is poised for a breakout year.

And with Lecky and the rest of the returning attack is a talented group of freshmen.

“Offensively, this could be one of the more talented freshman classes you could ever see,” Maltz said. “When those guys came in the fall, we were doing things that we were doing with the team mid-spring last year.”

On Thursday, Desko said the team’s second midfield unit — Evans, Weston and Billy Ward — has played well during the preseason.

“I think we’re sharing (the ball) really well,” Desko said. “The offense has been very unselfish, and almost to a fault where they keep making the extra pass, but that’s a good problem to have.”

In the peak of the 2000s, the Orange averaged more than 12 goals five different times. In 2004, it averaged a staggering 14.41 goals per game. But the past three years SU has averaged just 11.50, 10.35 and 10.76.

“It’s just the way we’ve played the last couple of years,” Desko said. “We’ve known that if we’re going to beat somebody, we have to beat them as a team.”

But this season, the offense is primed to break out.

Said Ward: “The offense just clicks on all cylinders. It’s great to watch and great to be a part of.”

Published on February 10, 2014 at 2:23 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu