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Syracuse lacrosse Sports Information guru Mike Morrison and his crew always put together great pre and post game information for all fans and media. The 2011 season officially kicked off last Thursday and again Morrison was there to keep everything going smoothly for the annual media day, which took place for the first time at Manley Field House.
His staff put up some photo's and quotes from the annual Syracuse Lacrosse media day. The media day takes place just in between the team's first practice of the season and the teams second of the day. Everyone from the Post Standard to Inside Lacrosse were in attendance.
You can see the photo's here: Syracuse Orange Photo Gallery
A few key quotes from Coach Desko Via SUAthletics.com:
On JoJo Marasco wearing jersey number 22:
"As a coaching staff, we look at the guys that are here and we are aware of the fact that they may want number 22. I think it's great that they feel they want the challenge of wearing number 22. I think he accepts that and he'll wear it well."
On John Galloway:
"Every year we've seen growth. I agree that it was his best year last year. We threw him to the wolves right away his freshman year (in 2008) and we came out national champions. I've always said he might be the best clearing goalie in the country and as good as anyone we've ever had. His save has come along every year. Last year it was there and he was as good of a goalie as anyone in the country. When you add his clearing ability, especially with a team like Syracuse, it makes us that much better."
On playing early games in NFL venues:
"I think for us, being in those venues helps with everything. It helps in recruiting, helps being on national television, and with the budget. I think playing in those venues is like playing in a playoff atmosphere and it prepares us for the playoffs."
On the defensive unit:
"I think for a lot of years people have associated us with our high-scoring offense, but I think in the past couple years, our strength has been with our defense, especially with John Galloway stepping up in goal. In a lot of our games that were tight last year, we didn't have to outscore teams. We just had to be patient on offense and let our defense get stops. I think right now our strength is our defense."
Here are some quotes from some of the players (via SUAthletics.com):
Jovan Miller, Senior, Midfield
On losing in the NCAA Tournament and the motivation that created in the offseason:
"More than anything is that you can’t take anyone lightly. We want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. If we have a lead on somebody, we’re definitely not going to relinquish it."
On the senior class:
"This is definitely the year for redemption for our class. We’re like brothers now and after we lost to Army we were really saddened by the way our seniors went out last year and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen again."
Stephen Keogh, Senior, Attack
On being ranked No. 1 in the preseason:
"Being ranked No. 1 is nice but, the past couple years we’ve been the targeted team, winning the national championship. I think we have a little revenge on our minds. The loss to Army (in the 2010 NCAA Tournament) I think is going to help us because we can’t take anything lightly. We’re going to keep working hard and hopefully come out with a lot of victories."
On replacing Chris Daniello:
"I think JoJo Marasco can feed. You saw it last year with flashes of brilliance. He’s back this year fully healthy and it’s not just going to be one guy. Last year we saw a lot of guys step up each game and I think that’s going to continue during the season. It’s going to be someone’s time to shine each game."
On the seniors leading a large freshman class:
"When we were freshmen we had some great guys to look up to. We just have to help them out. I know they are freshmen and they will make some mistakes, but you just have to help them out along the way. We have some great players that will help us this year and we’ll see what happens."
On the importance of the BIG EAST Conference:
"The BIG EAST means a lot to us. Every game does. When we play teams like Notre Dame and St. John’s we are going to bring our "A" game and we want to play every game our hardest and take it one game at a time."
Joel White, Senior, LSM
On the motivation created by last year's season-ending loss to Army:
"Yeah, it absolutely does motivate us. This is a new team, a new season and that’s the one big thing we need to focus on. We have our own agenda this year, but at the same time you have that bad taste in your mouth. I know the guys that were on that field last year didn’t like the feeling. We were fortunate enough our first two years to be able to run around on the field at Foxboro (after winning the national championship). At the same time we may have looked past them, but Army beat us that day. It’s over. It’s done with. We’re back here. We’re the 2011 team. We are ready to go."
On being from Central New York:
"I know for me, my family is always here and the other guys' families are always here. Actually, our families have become very close over the four years and this Syracuse family has come real close, not just the CNY guys, but everybody. For us personally, it is great to bring something to CNY and being a local guy, being lucky enough to be at Syracuse and being a part of everything that goes on here. For me, it has been amazing and I want to go out in the right way."
On the returners from 2010:
"We do have a lot of the guys back, but at the same time we brought in 19 freshmen. It’s great. You bring those guys in and they worked so hard to be a part of this team and we are happy to have them and we hope that they are stepping on the field with us. Yeah it’s great to have a senior class coming back to be able to bring the freshmen up and lead the team. We look forward to see what those underclassmen are going to do and how they are going to help us out but, it’s always good to have the upperclassmen to fall back on."
On having nine home games as a senior:
"It’s great to play in the Carrier Dome nine times my senior year. It's really amazing. After last year, being on the road all the time, it was fun for me personally because I love being on the road. It is a good time to get some team chemistry in with the guys and I think it helped us out a lot last year, bringing the team together. But there is nothing better than playing in the Carrier Dome and having all of our fans there. I look forward to seeing how many people come out and we have some real good games in the Dome. Hopefully we get a good crowd."