When the Syracuse men’s lacrosse season began, Pete Coluccini never thought he would have to make plans for Memorial Day weekend. That was usually when the NCAA semi-finals and championship game took place.

‘It’s funny,’ the sophomore goaltender said. ‘You seem to base your whole season around Memorial Day weekend.

‘It’s very easy to be preoccupied with the final four. Meanwhile, there are a lot more games at the beginning of the season before the final four. You have to win those to get to the final four.’

The Orange never made it through those games, stumbling to a 5-8 season in 2007 and missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years. Along the way, Syracuse suffered not only heart-breaking defeats in the last second, but also embarrassingly bad losses, as its traditionally tough schedule finally caught up to the Orange. SU hasn’t compiled this few wins in a full season since a 3-8 showing in 1975.

‘When you don’t play to your potential the whole year, as a team and individuals, it’s a frustrating experience,’ Coluccini said. ‘You feel bad for (the coaches), and you feel bad for the program and your teammates. You try to rationalize it somehow, but you really can’t.’

Perhaps the Orange could start with its highly touted offense. Inside Lacrosse magazine tabbed all three SU midfielders – Steve Brooks, Greg Rommel and Pat Perritt – and two attackmen – Dan Hardy and Mike Leveille – as preseason All-Americans.

SU finished the year ranked seventh in the nation with a 11.54 goals-per-game average, but that figure doesn’t reveal how streakily the Orange played all year. Some games, SU’s offense looked unstoppable, such as when it blasted Rutgers, 22-9.

Other bright spots included a 14-goal spurt in the last three quarters of a 16-15 loss to Cornell and a three-goal burst in the last minute of an 11-10 defeat to Loyola.

Other times, though, the Orange offense simply fell asleep and failed to hit double digits in scoring in six of its 13 games.

‘On offense, we were trying to find an identity because we have so many stars and talented players,’ defenseman Evan Brady said. ‘You’re working in a system, and it’s hard to have everyone play roles. Everyone is trying to find (his) role.’

SU’s defensemen were equally guilty of poor play. The Orange suffered a 17-9 rout at the hands of Johns Hopkins on March 17, its worst loss since a 17-5 loss to the Blue Jays in 2004. Princeton attackmen Peter Trombino and Mark Kovler overwhelmed the SU defense for career-high totals of five and four goals respectively in a 12-8 Tigers win on April 7.

Coluccini showed flashes of brilliance, racking up a career-high 22 saves against Cornell, but he also struggled at times with erratic play. The sophomore ended the year with an 11.27 goals-against average and 51.4 save percentage, both figures nothing to crow about.

‘We never clicked,’ senior defenseman Steve Panarelli said. ‘Sometimes the defense would play well, sometimes the offense would play well. You could tell, for whatever reason, things wouldn’t click for us this year.’

The Orange showed promise when it split its first six games, beating No. 2 Georgetown on the road in the process. But three straight losses dropped SU to 3-6 and left the Orange in a must-win position in every game it played.

Syracuse temporarily staved off elimination by beating Rutgers and No. 2 Albany, but a crushing loss at arch-rival Massachusetts ended SU’s season. The Orange faced eight ranked teams, including five of the top six squads in Inside Lacrosse’s season-ending rankings.

‘When you look at our schedule, on any given day, teams can beat us,’ Panarelli said. ‘We play such a hard schedule that a couple of balls bouncing here or there will lose you games.’

The team was also plagued by off-the-field troubles. Midfielders Sean McGonigle, and then Pat Perritt and John Carrozza were arrested in two separate incidents.

McGonigle was arrested and charged with assault Feb. 15. McGonigle returned to the team after a two-game suspension; Perritt and Carrozza were arrested and charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct March 11.

Perritt and Carrozza each served two-game suspensions, as well. Each of the players’ pre-trial hearings are scheduled for late May, but Perritt and McGonigle have decided to leave the school, with McGonigle facing a suspension of one academic year.

Players said the constant lineup shuffles due to the off-the-field incidents and other injuries affected the chemistry of the team’s play.

‘We had guys in and out of the lineup,’ Panarelli said. ‘That affected us. You go into each game not knowing who’s playing next to you.’

Published on June 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm