Don’t call the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team a dynasty.

By that definition, it pigeonholes the Orangemen to a defined era of greatness. And that’s exactly where they differ from all other lacrosse programs.

See, there is no end to the Orangemen’s postseason success. For 21 consecutive years, they’ve reached the Final Four. That’s not a dynasty – that’s tradition.

‘It’s special when you put the (Syracuse) jersey on,’ freshman Steve Panarelli said. ‘Every time you put it on, you think about all the greats that put it on – the Powells, the Gaits, the list goes on and on. It’s such a great tradition.’

The annual domination even outdates the 19-year-old newcomer. He can’t remember the 1983 season that started it all – the year the Orangemen won their inaugural national championship. But 269 wins, 21 Final Four appearances and eight national titles later, Panarelli and the rest of the sporting world knows plenty about the legacy of Syracuse lacrosse.

No other Division I men’s lacrosse program even comes close to SU’s streak of 21 Final Four appearances. Johns Hopkins owns the second-longest streak of 12 straight trips from 1976-1987.

‘Being in the playoffs and our team are synonymous,’ senior captain Steve Vallone said. ‘It’s a great chance to be able to continue the streak. I want to be a part of 22 straight Final Fours.’

If there is one drawback, it’s that Syracuse’s streak has generated the pressure to maintain the same level of success. But, then again, the Orangemen are quick to point out that they are responsible for creating most of those expectations.

‘Syracuse is a tough place to play because there are so many high expectations,’ senior Mike Powell said. ‘As opposed to other programs where they might set a goal at the beginning of the season to make the tournament or make the Final Four, here it’s 22 years that we’ve set our goals on the championship. And we’ve come pretty darn close every year. You don’t want to be the team that breaks the streak or lets the crowd down. So, there’s a lot on our shoulders, but I think we’ve always dealt with it pretty well.’

The streak nearly slipped away from Syracuse last year, when the team lost three-straight games in April. Still, SU managed to earn a berth in the tournament and advanced to the national semifinal after defeating Dartmouth and Princeton.

‘Last year it seemed like it was going to be tough,’ senior Dan DiPietro said, ‘but we knew how good we were. When we came out against Princeton in the (quarterfinal), we knew what was going to happen. There was no way we were going to lose that game. The season would feel like a failure if we didn’t make the Final Four.’

But after winning the national championship in 2002, simply continuing the streak didn’t satisfy the Orangemen. SU wrapped up what most players considered a disappointing 10-6 campaign with a 19-8 loss to Johns Hopkins in the national semifinal.

‘Everybody really got bothered by the number of losses,’ senior Sean Lindsay said. ‘We lost more games last year than we did combined the first two years I was here. It was kind of embarrassing losing to teams we should have beat. But that just adds more fuel to the fire for this year.’

Lindsay said the biggest difference from last year to this season is that the team is working on staying much more focused. Though they have their sights set on extending their streak and winning a national championship, the Orangemen insist they won’t overlook the weaker teams as they did last year.

And even then, head coach John Desko said it’s possible for a lesser-known team to put an end to Syracuse’s streak.

‘The growth at the high school level is all over,’ Desko said. ‘There are more players to pick from, more areas to go out and recruit from, more camps. As a result, your roster is going to stay the same size, but there are more players for other teams. So the talent level is coming up in the Division I level.’

But the seventh-year coach said he isn’t too worried, because the Orangemen seem to always come alive in the month of May. He said he even enjoys coaching under the streak and that the playoff experience makes his coaching staff more comfortable in pressure-situations than others might be.

As for some of the players, they prefer not to think about the other teams catching up with SU’s talent or the pressure of extending the streak another year.

‘I try not to think about what would happen if the streak ends,’ junior Jay Pfeifer said. ‘You don’t want to get too rattled about it. If you think about the fear (of failing), you aren’t going to play that well. But if you want to carry on the legacy and tradition, you are going to play that much harder.’

And judging by Panarelli’s understanding of the Syracuse program, the veterans and newcomers seem to be on the same page entering the 2004 season. But as many of the seniors suggest, continuing the streak should not be SU’s ultimate goal. Rather, they believe it needs to be taken one step further.

‘We have to go out on top,’ Vallone said. ‘We have the team this year to do it. I really feel we have all the components. I can’t see anything else than us being on top of the pile on Memorial Day.’

After all, it’s practically tradition.

Published on March 2, 2004 at 12:00 pm