Syracuse knows exactly what Tuesday’s matchup at Providence is.

“It is a trap game,” head coach John Desko said. “Again, coming off that emotional game, having to travel, play on a Tuesday.”

Fresh off of a marquee 13-8 victory Saturday against storied rival Johns Hopkins, the No. 4 Orange’s (4-1, 1-0 Big East) greatest adjustments ahead of Tuesday’s 7 p.m. match at Providence (5-1, 0-1) are mental and off of the field. Playing its first short-rest game of the season, SU can’t prepare much else. The Orange doesn’t want to forget the win over then-No. 5 JHU – the highlight of its season so far – but in the quick turnaround to play Providence, any Hopkins memories are cut down to the similarities between the Blue Jays and the Friars.

The SU coaching staff has been wary of overworking tired legs after the Johns Hopkins game, instead dissecting video and fine-tuning for PC’s harsher field and defensive schemes. For the players, the challenge is largely mental.

“It’s a little tough,” Syracuse midfielder Henry Schoonmaker said, “especially after having that big win against Hopkins, you don’t want to get too high on yourself because you know you have Providence two days later and you have to start preparing for them right away.”

Twenty hours after SU concluded the highlight of its season to date, the Orange was in Manley Field House, watching tape on Providence.

Then, SU took the AstroTurf field at J.S. Coyne Stadium for a light walkthrough. Providence’s Lennon Family Field is one of the few in the country that hosts games on a harsher, bouncier artificial surface. AstroTurf is harder to run on and hurts players more when they fall.

But the change of playing surface especially affects goalkeeper Dominic Lamolinara, who made his season debut Saturday.

“I saw on film they were bouncing a lot, I saw they were bouncing higher,” Lamolinara said, “so I just need to move over to the ball and make the save with my body rather than just relying on my stick.”

Lamolinara said he’s only played on AstroTurf twice in his life, but thinks the team’s pre-game practice on the surface will ease the adjustment. Desko said he would discuss whom to start in goal with assistant coach Kevin Donahue on Monday night. Lamolinara replaced usual starter Bobby Wardwell at halftime of SU’s win Saturday and recorded five saves, including three 1-on-1s in close.

Regardless of the turf, Schoonmaker said he and the offense are keying in on the Friars’ close-man slides. Providence will shift a defender off of the crease to double up on the ball, so the Orange is emphasizing recognizing the slide and passing quickly to escape the trap.

“Sometimes they can get confused, too, on who’s the near man, so that can also – we can get some just straight-up great looks because they can get confused like that,” Schoonmaker said.

Desko later added that the PC close slides are secondary when the Orange dodges as the first slide comes from midfield.

The emotional grounding from the Johns Hopkins victory is especially lofty for sophomore defender Sean Young. Saturday’s win was his debut and first start for the Orange, and he shut down JHU’s leading scorer Brandon Benn, earning Big East Defensive Player of the Week.

After Sunday’s team film session, he watched more film Sunday night, and said he expected to watch even more on the team bus to Providence on Monday.

Young admitted that packing a week’s worth of mental preparation into a couple of days can be a headache, but his and the Orange’s fate against Providence will be determined by the success of that off-field turnaround.

“Sunday’s practice was really light because after the game, they just wanted us to loosen up our legs, mentally just prepare like we’re playing any opponent, like we’re playing Hopkins again,” Young said. “I have to watch film, I have to know my matchup, I have to be ready at all aspects.”

Published on March 19, 2013 at 1:17 am

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_