It's easy to overlook Kevin Rice: The senior attackman stands only 5'8" and was ranked only 48th in his incoming class by Inside Lacrosse (16th among Class of 2011 attackman). Yet Rice has become -- in many ways -- the primary cog in Syracuse's offense, pacing the team's assault on opposing goalkeepers each of the last two seasons:
| METRIC | 2013 | 2014 |
| Team shooting percentage | 30.96% | 35.31% |
| Rice shooting percentage | 32.39% | 34.95% |
| Team shots on goal shooting percentage | 61.91% | 61.12% |
| Rice shots on goal shooting percentage | 70.42% | 64.08% |
| Team saved shot percentage | 30.96% | 25.81% |
| Rice save shot percentage | 38.03% | 29.13% |
| Opponent save percentage (team) | 50.00% | 42.22% |
| Opponent save percentage (Rice) | 54.00% | 45.45% |
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| Percentage of team goals (Rice) | 10.00% | 17.31% |
| Percentage of team assists (Rice) | 21.92% | 34.38% |
| Percentage of team points (Rice) | 14.63% | 23.81% |
| Percentage of team shots (Rice) | 9.56% | 17.49% |
| Percentage of team turnovers (Rice) | 5.53% | 9.28% |
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| Team adjusted offensive efficiency | 35.70 (9) | 38.97 (6) |
Those are values -- in the context of the Orange's prolific offense -- that would seemingly create a lot of buzz around Rice entering the 2015 season, but Rice is floating under the radar as the fall slowly bleeds into the true preseason. Randy Staats -- Rice's linemate -- has more heat around him entering 2015 from a Syracuse-centric perspective and guys like Wells Stanwick -- who has a game similar to Rice's in many ways -- are earning more ink thank Rice on a national level. Is Rice destined to exist on the fringe of the nation's consciousness next season simply because his play isn't infused with optic flash? It almost feels like Rice's career could mirror that of Justin Ward's at Loyola: Acknowledged but never quite fully realized in its complete capacity.