May 11, 11:49 p.m. — As far as messages go, it was a blunt one.

But the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team needed to make something clear from the get-go against Canisius Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament, a 20-3 win for the Orange.

‘We just wanted to let them know, right from the start, that they weren’t really going to be in the game for real long,’ said junior attack Kenny Nims, responsible for two goals and three assists in the win.

Consider that memo sent.

With Danny Brennan – the No. 1 faceoff man in the country – winning draws in a short test-run at the outset, No. 3 seeded Syracuse (13-2) raced out to an 8-0 run to start the game and coasted to the double digit win against the Golden Griffins in front of 3,452 at the Carrier Dome.

It was the fewest goals allowed in the postseason by the Orange since 1996. SU is now 22-1 in playoff games played at the Dome.

The whitewash reboots the team’s momentum, which was stunted by last week in a loss at Colgate in the regular season finale.

‘We didn’t run our offense well last week, and we lost,’ said senior attack Mike Leveille, the Tewaaraton Trophy finalist who paced SU with four goals and two assists. ‘I think we wanted to make sure we came out and executed, and you know, did the things we’ve done most of the season.’

The Orange did.

Syracuse now heads to Ithaca, N.Y., to face No. 6 seed Notre Dame in the second round on Sunday at 3 p.m, with a spot in the final four at stake. The Fighting Irish snatched an overtime win away from those same Red Raiders in South Bend, Ind., Saturday.

The SU victory comes on opening weekend of the NCAA tournament, a round that saw many of the top seeds stumble out of the starting blocks.

No. 1 Duke looked sluggish early before pulling away from Loyola. No. 2 Virginia was life and death with Maryland-Baltimore County – the Cavs slipped past the Retrievers 10-9 Sunday.

And North Carolina, the four seed, lost at home on Saturday night to Navy.

No. 3 Syracuse didn’t have those problems. It was stronger, faster and better than the Golden Griffins (10-6), and didn’t take long to show it. Because the Golden Griffins, champions of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, brought a rowdy student section to the Dome from their campus in Buffalo – and not much else.

The stronger part was apparent early on.

Freshman Jovan Miller smashed Griffins attack James McCready at midfield: the sophomore lay in a heap afterwards. Leveille barreled through three defenders – including one wielding a stick to his neck – to score his third goal.

But it was the faster part, Syracuse’s speed in transition and speed in scoring, which put this game to bed early, even for a Sunday night.

‘Every coach probably tells his team the same thing: ‘Let’s take some good shots early in the game and not let their goalie get a lot of confidence,” SU head coach John Desko said. ‘And I think that happened today.’

The Orange offense torched whatever upset hopes the Golden Griffins had, scoring those first eight goals on just 13 shots. Brennan won four of the first five faceoffs before being shut down for the night.

Seven different players hit the back of the net during the opening run: Nims was the first, depositing a low shot from the right alley in the net at the 13:46 mark of the first. Senior midfielder Steven Brooks was the last, snapping a jump shot off a Nims pass with 9:56 left in the second.

The pounding didn’t let up after the half, either. Syracuse scored 11 in the final two frames, and 11 players in all scored.

Having Brennan healthy is likely the key to winning like this in the future, key to the Orange’s ability to build momentum. He pulled a leg muscle two weeks back, then sat out the loss to Colgate.

Sunday was a short evening for Brennan. His health is still uncertain.

‘We’ll see next week how it feels,’ Brennan said. ‘And we’ll just take it day by day.’

Having the fifth-year senior will be key against the Irish.

Notre Dame is the best team in the country at faceoffs. Brennan is the best individual. The Fighting Irish’s Taylor Cladgett (‘their own Danny Brennan,’ Desko said) sits right below him in the rankings.

‘When (Brennan’s) on his game, we’re pretty hard to stop,’ Nims said. ‘Just having him out there, winning faceoffs, it just gives us extra possessions, more chances to score. Whenever he’s out there, he’s a huge asset to our team.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on May 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm