Issue 2 - March/April 2010

March Madness

During March Madness, Syracuse basketball fans across New York City joined fellow alumni to cheer on the Orange at various bars across the city including The Hill, Sidebar, and Local West.

The Orange Crushes the Big City Classic

No. 3 Syracuse (8-1) lit up the big stage, using a 9-0 run to fuel a 13-4 victory against No. 5 Princeton (7-2) in front of an NCAA regular-season record crowd for a lacrosse-only event (25,710) at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic at New Meadowlands Stadium on Saturday, April 10. Members of the Big Apple Orange went to the new stadium to cheer on the team.

SU’s matchup against the Tigers was the nightcap of a tripleheader that included four of the top five teams in Division I men’s lacrosse and was the first sporting event to take place at the new home of the NFL’s Giants and Jets.

A pair of Orange men had the best games of their careers Saturday. Senior Cody Jamieson led the way with a career-best five points (4g, 1a) and freshman JoJo Marasco, who registered his first career hat trick with three goals. Redshirt sophomore Tim Desko matched his personal bests with two goals.

The Orange also received stellar defensive performances from junior John Lade, who shut down Princeton scoring leader Jack McBride (two assists), and junior goalie John Galloway, who allowed just one goal, while stopping 11 shots in 49:40 of action.

Syracuse held the Tigers without a goal for 31:30 during the course of the game, the longest scoreless stretch for an Orange opponent this season, and Princeton was shut out in in both the first and third quarters.

The Orange dominated both sides of the ball from the opening faceoff. It took control of the game with goals by Marasco and junior Josh Amidon in the first quarter and never trailed. One of the keys was the the Orange's man-down defense. Syracuse was short-handed for 3:30 in the first quarter, but the defense killed all four of Princeton's man-up chances. Galloway was sharp from the outset, making five saves in the quarter to blank the Tigers heading into the second period.

Senior Al Cavalieri entered the game when Galloway was called for slashing and allowed Princeton’s first goal 30 seconds into the second quarter. The Tigers got within one again at 3-2 after a goal by Mike Chanenchuk with 9:26 left in the firs half, but that didn’t seem to faze the Orange, which scored the next goals of the game to tame the Tigers for good.

Junior Jeremy Thompson proved, yet again, that he was a force coming off the faceoff X as he pushed it out to himself and fed it to Jamieson to make the score 4-2 with 9:20 remaining. Desko put in another just 13 seconds later to make it a three-goal cushion, 5-2.

And the Orange was just getting started.

It went on to score two more goals before the intermission, including a nifty between-the-legs shot just in front of the crease by Desko to make it a 7-2 game at the break.

Jamieson came to life in the second half, scoring Syracuse’s first three goals of the third quarter to help put the game away. Marasco tacked on two more to give the Orange the 10-goal lead (12-2) with two seconds left in the period.

The Tigers scored twice on Cavalieri in the final period to outscore the Orange, 2-1, in the quarter and produce the final score.

Orange Alumni Give New York a Good Spring Greening

New York City parks and gardens are an essential part of urban life. On April 24, Syracuse Alumni participated in Hands On New York Day, joining over 5,000 volunteers to make these spaces cleaner, greener, and ready for summer by gardening, weeding, painting, and more.

Team captain Alyxa Lease lead six fellow alumni to Brooklyn to clean up Floral Vineyard Community Garden, a little garden in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Volunteers spent the day working in the garden removing debris, bundling twigs, raking and getting the garden ready for spring planting. They also worked in the garden tilling the soil, spreading compost and working to build garden beds.

The garden is important to the community as it keeps the neighborhood looking presentable with their trees, rose bushes, vegetables, and the sweet smell of herbs and mint. The garden offers many events like barbecues, birthday parties, and art programs with children.