It’s all been well-documented. The standout freshman season at North Carolina, the injuries, the senior season resurgence.

Nicky Galasso’s path through college lacrosse is interwoven in success, frustration and relief. But with no more than four games left in his career, the storylines have thinned. It’s tunnel vision for the fifth-year midfielder looking to avenge his team’s early exit in last season’s NCAA tournament.

“Last year we lost in the first round and that’s pretty unheard of with Syracuse,” he said. “We’re just excited to get Marist.”

Galasso is riding a three-game streak with three or more goals, the longest such run of his five-year journey in college. As opposing defenses have recently slowed the Orange down with zones early in games, it’s been Galasso to come in from the midfield and find the seams to exploit those zones.

And starting on Sunday night, especially if the Red Foxes come out without a man-to-man, Galasso will rely on his recent effectiveness to jumpstart second-seeded SU (12-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) against Marist (14-3, 6-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic) in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“Nicky’s a great player and he’s been doing that all season,” fifth-year midfielder Henry Schoonmaker said. “…so I think it was pretty easy for him to pick apart the defense and get the shots that he always gets.”

Against North Carolina in the ACC tournament semifinals, Galasso kept Syracuse afloat with three of the team’s five first-half goals while the Tar Heels slowed down the rest of the Orange with a zone. Facing Colgate last weekend, it was Galasso who overcame the Raiders zoning SU’s first-line midfield to score the game’s final two goals in a 9-7 win.

He found an opening from 10 yards out in between two defenders and slotted the ball top right. Then to give SU its first cushion of the day with minutes remaining, he put the ball in the same spot in between two defenders again from distance.

“He’s a great shooter and he has an awesome feel for the game,” Kevin Rice said.

In last year’s first-round loss to Bryant, Galasso scored two goals but the Bulldogs stifled SU with a zone and slowed down the pace of the game. Marist zoned Bryant in its play-in game on Wednesday, but SU head coach John Desko said the Red Foxes have done a good job varying their defensive sets this year.

If the Orange does see a zone on Sunday, the formula to beat it isn’t too complicated now that the Orange is fresh off knowing what it takes to beat one.

“I think just patience and finding the holes,” Schoonmaker said. “I think those are two main things that we have to do a little better, just figuring out where the holes in the defense are and then being patient and waiting for those to pop up.”

It’s something Galasso has done effectively, and something that may be the key to finally putting one of Syracuse’s worst tournament losses ever in the past 364 days after the fact.

But before the Orange can move onto the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, it may have to execute against a defensive scheme that has at times been a weakness as of late.

“Once we put that first goal in, that’s when things are going to start flowing for us,” Galasso said. “We just have to listen to the schemes and everything that’s going on with the coaches.

“They’re setting us up for greatness.”

Published on May 10, 2015 at 9:08 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman