For a decade, it was so easy. Find the guy with 22 on his jersey and Powell across the back of his shoulders. That was the star of the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team, from Casey to Ryan to Michael, the player who gave a face to the program.

They were the kids from Carthage who turned a powerhouse into a dynasty, but they were so much more than that. They served as the offensive backbone to championship teams built on offense, the swaggering identity of a dominant team.

For the first time in 10 years, that identity is missing. There’s no Powell, no star, no swagger. That was cruelly evident Tuesday night, as the Orange sloppily lost, 16-14, to Cornell. The loss was just the latest blemish on a Syracuse season that’s been, well, so very un-Syracuse, with a 5-4 record and just two wins by more than two goals.

Turns out, being Powelless has rendered Syracuse powerless.

And if the Orange wants to make its 23rd consecutive Final Four, it needs to solve that.

Syracuse has yet to offer a definitive answer as to whether it can perform – and, more importantly, win – up to its lofty standards without a Powell in the lineup.

‘We’ve learned a lot about ourselves since the beginning of the season,’ said SU head coach John Desko. ‘We’re capable of playing some pretty good lacrosse. We just need to stop making mistakes.’

Mistakes aside, there’s one thing SU hasn’t learned yet, and it’s keeping it from being a great team. Nine games into the post-Powell era, Syracuse has yet to find its star, the player everyone looks to.

Qualified candidates line the Orange roster, from a freshman attackman (Mike Leveille) to a senior goalie (Jay Pfeifer).

When the season began, conventional thought dictated the Syracuse defense, the most experienced unit the Orange possessed, would carry the load while the young guns on offense caught up. Everything went as scripted to start, the Orange grinding out a convincing 9-4 win over Army.

But that defense, led by the cocky-for-good-reason Steve Panarelli, has struggled at times since. Pfeifer, perhaps the nation’s best keeper when he’s on, has strangely battled problems seeing the ball, leading to 16-goals-against games like Tuesday night.

But the blame should not be placed solely on his shoulders. Cornell attackmen blew by Panarelli and tough guy Scott Ditzell as if they were traffic cones, leaving Pfeifer defenseless against the Big Red onslaught.

Of course, this is Syracuse, the program that practically invented run-and-gun lacrosse. The Syracuse offense that once struck fear into the hearts of opponents hasn’t mustered that explosiveness this season. The Orange has scored 96 goals this spring. Last year, it had already scored 129 at this point.

When the Orange needed a goal last season, Powell could take the ball and will it to happen, whether he dodged and dished or used his NASCAR quicks to get to the cage.

Now when crunch time comes, it seems to be the opponent who finds a way to score. It would be silly to expect anyone to really replace Michael Powell. His was a unique genius, and it won’t be duplicated any time this generation.

So no one has to be Mike Powell. They just have to be a better version of themselves, a better leader, a rock for the rest of teammates to depend on.

Perhaps it will take a little time for one of the young guns to take the role. Syracuse certainly isn’t panicking, not with the laid-back Pfeifer wearing the ‘C’ on his chest. And, Powell or no Powell, the rest of the lacrosse world still fears the Orange.

‘I still feel SU is a more talented team,’ said Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni, whose squad staked a claim as the best lacrosse team in Central New York. ‘I’m sure they’ll still be in the tournament and do fairly well.’

Still, there were scenes Tuesday night that were so unfamiliar, so foreign, it was almost difficult to watch how far SU had fallen from hoisting the national title trophy a year ago.

Confounded defensemen meeting to sort out confusion. Jay Pfeifer leaving the cage in the final minutes, desperately scampering around for a turnover. Head coach John Desko frantically calling a timeout, helplessly watching his team lose as the clock ticked.

Unless it wants to relive those moments, the Orange needs to find its identity, get its swagger back.

Maybe Mike Leveille can take up guitar. Maybe Brain Crockett should wear black war paint under his eyes. Heck, teach Brent Bucktooth to flip before he shoots. Anything to get back that aura that the Powell name brought.

Or, better yet, this year’s Orange can create its own aura. This team owns a unique spot in the program’s history, and with it comes a special, but daunting, opportunity. They can prove the greatness of Syracuse lacrosse doesn’t lie in a name or in the past. The Crocketts and Bucktooths and Leveilles can become the next Gaits and Powells.

But it hasn’t happened yet. This year, it’s been too hard to find the star.