Five weeks of practice, four open scrimmages and two closed exhibitions produced hours of film. It allowed John Desko to pinpoint three areas of focus: offensive spacing, new sets and defensive communication.

“It’s one thing for a player to be out on the field and you talk to him about it,” said Desko, Syracuse head coach, “but it’s another thing when he can see it on film for himself.”

Syracuse is about where Desko expects it to be heading into its first game. The core first team is set, and the No. 12 Orange will open its 2013 campaign Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Carrier Dome against Albany. Desko worked with Albany head coach Scott Marr for the U.S. national team and expects an open game. He called it an appreciation for “true lacrosse.”

In last week’s scrimmage at No. 20 Ohio State, Syracuse struggled with OSU’s shifts from man-to-man to zone defense. Desko decided to work with his team to adjust.

Shooters like Matt Walters, Luke Cometti and Scott Loy are important to Syracuse’s ability to stretch opponents’ defenses. The Orange watched film as a team Wednesday before practice. Sliding in and out of different offenses will aid Syracuse in its opener and down the road, as defenses can pack it in when the shot clock begins.

“What we’ve been working on the most is trying to stay spread, trying to have a lot of – make sure we’re moving, a lot of cuts for the attack when they dodge,” senior attack JoJo Marasco said. “Just trying to mess with the defense because the more we cut and move, it’s going to be tougher for the defense.”

Desko noted the Orange will sometimes tighten up from sending in too many cuts, forcing dodgers to reverse the attack back into defenders.

On its own defensive end, the Orange just needs to talk.

“Sometimes the team comes out and either it’s a lazy day or people are tired from classes and they don’t feel like talking as much, but coaches try to get on our backs about that,” midfielder Hakeem Lecky said.

Conditioning helps Syracuse communicate better as well. Talking takes energy on the field, and the Orange are still at least two months from tapering its conditioning, defender Brian Megill said.

Consequently, the amount of team conditioning hasn’t wavered since preseason began in early January.

“With this new run-and-gun style of play with the new rules, we really got to be in the best shape we can,” Megill said.

The Orange will start Sunday with a four-man rotation of Derek Maltz, Dylan Donahue, Billy Ward and Kevin Rice on attack. Chris Daddio, who Desko said has improved from last season, will start at the faceoff X. SU’s faceoff wings include Matt Harris, Steve Ianzito and Henry Schoonmaker.

Lecky and Marasco should come off of the bench quickly, though.

Yet with regular season just three days away, SU’s focus remains on its own problems and systems, rather than Albany’s, or anyone else’s.

“We haven’t really scouted Albany really,” defender Brandon Mullins said, “I mean, I know them from last year. They have some pretty good offensive players. But as far as specific things for them, no, we haven’t done much.”

Published on February 14, 2013 at 2:30 am

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_