Syracuse is coming off a 16-4 season that resulted in becoming a national runner up last season. This year they hope to get back to the national championship game and reverse the results.
After a fall ball that featured scrimmages against Team Israel and the Iroquois National Team, the team ended fall ball with a game against the Syracuse Alumni. As is customary with most teams, the end of fall ball marks the announcement of their team’s captains. The team announced this season’s captains before their game against the Syracuse Alumni squad.
This season Derek Maltz, Hakeem Lecky, Billy Ward and Matt Harris have been named captains for Syracuse. Lecky is a redshirt junior while the other three are all seniors.
Maltz is the only player on the team to have started all 20 games for the Orange last season, while Ward played in every game and started in 10 of them. Maltz was fifth on the team in points with 39 and second on the team in goals with 32.
After scoring eight goals last season and finishing with nine points total, Lecky had an impressive showing against Iroquois with a five goal performance. With so many options already coming back on offense, Lecky’s emergence could make this team powerful on offense.
While Maltz and Lecky take care of the leadership on offense, Ward and Harris will do the same on defense. Harris was a turnover causing machine last season, leading the team with 29 of them. He also chipped in with three points, which shows he can handle the rock in transition. Harris was also a ground ball machine for the Orange as he had 52 of them, good for second on the team.
After naming five captains last season, it usually comes down to the amount of votes cast for each candidate. Coach John Desko said, “As (coaches) we sometimes look at the difference like if one guy has 10 and one guy has 50. With teams becoming larger, I think last year worked really well with five. With a group of 54 that was doable. This year we have four captains.”
For Syracuse fans, hopefully these four captains can lead the Orange back to the national championship and produce a different result than in 2013.
