Syracuse University lacrosse team gets Big East dress rehearsal

Syracuse, NY -- When is a conference not really a conference? When there is no reward for the winner.

That is the current state of the Big East men’s lacrosse conference, which will debut this season with seven teams - Syracuse, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s and Villanova. Without an automatic qualifier to the 16-team Division I NCAA Tournament field this season, the conference will basically go through a dress rehearsal, with each team playing a six-game round-robin league schedule.

"It’s here. It doesn’t count," SU head coach John Desko said. "So in some ways for Syracuse, it’s learning what it is to be part of a conference."

The Big East applied for the AQ shortly after announcing its formation in June 2008. The NCAA requires a two-year waiting period before granting the perk, although it sometimes grants exceptions. As it stands now, it could be the 2012 season before the Big East has the AQ.

In the meantime, Desko said his coaches and players will use this season as a chance to figure out what conference play is all about. He pointed out that of the seven teams in the league, only SU has never played in a conference previously.

"I guess it’s a good place for us to be, because we’re going to learn about the importance of conference games and what each conference team brings to the table," Desko said. "There are teams we haven’t played recently that we don’t play on a yearly basis, so we’re going to learn more about them. Again, it’s a learning process for us."

Specifically, the Orange will try to become more familiar with Notre Dame, Providence, St. John’s and Villanova, teams that are now on the schedule in place of Binghamton, Colgate, Loyola and Massachusetts. SU has been playing Georgetown and Rutgers for years and will simply continue longstanding rivalries with those schools when conference play commences. Officially, that is this season, but the absence of the AQ and a postseason conference tournament will give it the feel of a dry run.

"There isn’t an automatic qualifier for the conference this year, so when I say it’s a conference and it isn’t a conference it’s because there’s no AQ," Desko said. "The winner of the conference, there is no reward for it this year. Next year or the year after, you win the conference and the AQ kicks in. Now it means a lot because if you win the conference you definitely have a berth in the playoffs."

That noted, junior goaltender John Galloway said the new schedule has its merits.

"We’re looking at it as we have different opponents we have to prepare for," he said, "and I think it’s an exciting opportunity to change our schedule up a little bit, something we haven’t experienced, and it’s going to add a new taste, a new flavor to our schedule that maybe we need after two years of finding a lot of success. I think it’s going to be exciting for us to see some new teams, and we’re going to have a lot of new rivals now with the Big East Conference."

Other than that, Galloway said, SU’s approach to the NCAAs will remain the same despite its new status as a conference member.

"I think we go into any season expecting to be in a position to get an at-large bid," he said. "I think we’re not planning on just getting in because of our conference bid (when it kicks in). I think that’s the way we’re going to look at it."

SU not alone

The Orange kicked off preseason camp Thursday and immediately went to double sessions on Friday, taking advantage of the full field available in the Carrier Dome while the men's basketball team continues a three-game road trip.

Le Moyne coach Dan Sheehan said his Division II 2009 NCAA semifinalist team also opened preseason camp on Thursday in preparation for its 2010 season, which will feature a scrimmage against Syracuse and Hofstra on Feb. 7 in the Carrier Dome. Colgate opened camp on Tuesday.

Onondaga CC, which won the national junior-college championship last season, will open camp Monday. Head coach Chuck Wilbur said the Lazers have a lot of work to do because nine of his 10 starters from last season’s title team are gone.

"It’s kind of crazy that the season is here already," Wilbur said. "We have a pretty talented team, but it’s a lot younger than last year. We had a lot of guys back last year who knew how to play in a big-game atmosphere. That’s not the case this year. We’re going to be talented, but it’s going to take us a little time to play how we want to play."