Nicky Galasso and Brendan Conroy are officially the newest members of the Syracuse Orange, head coach John Desko announced Tuesday morning through SU Athletics.

Galasso comes to Syracuse from North Carolina where he excelled as a freshman before struggling with a foot injury and seeing his playing time dwindle. He was a UNC student in the fall, and not officially a member of the team until Monday when he had a physical and processed his NCAA compliance forms.

Conroy practiced with his new teammates for the first time Tuesday morning. Both players are looking to integrate quickly into the hyper-talented team. While Galasso is competing for a starting spot in the Orange’s front six, Conroy is likely to help the team out at X where SU won just 46 percent of its faceoffs last year.

“I’ve gone against a lot of guys who are already out there at the faceoff X through high school and just competitions over the summer lacrosse,” Conroy said.

The freshman midfielder cited Maryland’s Charlie Raffa, Yale’s Dylan Levings and Hofstra’s John Antoniades as familiar opponents. All three were among the top faceoff men in the country last year.

Though Conroy has yet to move in, he is rooming with fellow freshman attack Jeff Desko, John Desko’s nephew.

Desko said it’s his job, as well as that of his teammates, to make Conroy feel at home after joining the team from a semester at home and at Portsmouth Abbey (R.I.) School.

“He’s part of the family now,” Desko said. “Just show him around, show him what he needs to do, what he shouldn’t do. Just show him the ropes.”

Galasso moved in Saturday and is already looking forward to playing a “feeder” role in SU’s attack, though he’s unsure where he’ll play on the team. In his first practice, he and leading scorer Derek Maltz sparked an early connection that bodes well for a fluid SU attack, he said.

When Galasso’s playing time for the Tar Heels dwindled last season, many of his friends on the team did, too, he said. But Galasso moved in with senior JoJo Marasco upon arriving Saturday, and “it’s been great ever since,” Galasso said.

“When I made the decision to go to North Carolina I was young, I didn’t really know,” Galasso said. “But then making the decision to come here was probably the best decision I’ve ever made because this is the style, this is the way I play.”

Published on January 8, 2013 at 5:56 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_