PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It’s a broken record for Syracuse. Its young offense has been unable to string together a full game of production. After its 11-goal loss to Johns Hopkins last week, head coach John Desko was prompted to make a lineup change.

As the Rutgers PA announcer listed off the away team’s starters on Sunday, he said the usual names on the midfield: Jamie Trimboli and Tucker Dordevic. But then, Brendan Curry joined the two, replacing usual-starter Peter Dearth on the first-line midfield.

It was an attempt at changing up the Syracuse (3-3, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) offense, which ranks outside the country’s top 30 with less than 11 goals per game. And while SU fell to Rutgers on the back of a season-worst 22 turnovers, Curry finished the loss with an assist.

“Peter’s been doing OK,” Desko said, “but we have no goals for Peter on the year and wanted to give somebody else another chance to help take a little pressure off Dordevic and Trimboli.”

It wasn’t a hard decision for Desko. As a freshman, Curry had already made his name known, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist through the first five games. Players, as well as Desko and other former coaches, often note his speed as a defining attribute.

Dearth plays a different, more physical style. The sophomore has yet to score a single goal but did have three assists, including a pair against Virginia. Dearth has three more inches on Curry and often tries backing down defenders rather than dodging with speed like Curry.

But for Desko, it all came down to which player has produced more and which fits alongside the other five starters on offense.

“We were looking for somebody that can go behind the goal more,” Desko said, “and Curry has that ability to play in the attack and midfield, so we can invert him.”

Curry played attack all his life until switching during his junior season at Calvert Hall (Maryland). He moved to the position after repeated injuries in previous years. The move to midfield allowed Curry to utilize his speed more with increased field space to run, and to shoot at any time, he said.

Inverting Curry allows for the attack to work his way in the midfield, and vice versa. Brendan Bomberry had played midfield before becoming a star around the crease for Syracuse last season. Trying to work the ball around against Rutgers, midfielders would dodge and, if there wasn’t open room, would go behind the net and reset the offense.

In his first start, Curry made his presence known. He dodged right alley before seeing two defenders had closed near him, leaving Dordevic wide open. Curry turned and fired a pass to Dordevic, who corralled the ball and crow-hopped a shot past goalie Max Edelmann. It gave Syracuse an early 2-1 lead in an eventual 14-10 loss. Curry had a shot that clanked off the post, but he finished his first start scoreless.

“He’s probably the fastest kid I’ve ever seen in my life,” Solomon said a month ago about Curry. “It all comes natural to him.”

Dearth, on the other hand, had just one shot and a turnover. His shot came immediately after SU took a 1-0 lead, but it was high and wide. The rest of the game, Dearth just worked the ball around and tried backing down his defenders from time to time.

Curry and Dearth are two different types of players. Now on the second midfield line, Dearth is in a “four-man rotation” players said. He works alongside a more physical redshirt senior Matt Lane, redshirt senior Ryan Simmons and redshirt freshman David Lipka, who has five goals in five games.

There, Dearth will likely get more opportunities on offense. He’s no longer the last option on a midfield line of a proven scorer in Trimboli and a freshman breakout in Dordevic.

In an unfamiliar spot, with losses in three of its first six games, production is a necessity for Syracuse. And if there’s no difference from this switch up, Desko will not hesitate to make another change.

Published on March 19, 2018 at 10:30 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco