If Syracuse lacrosse’s matchup with Johns Hopkins this weekend was the NCAA tournament, Nick Mellen might play.
That’s how close the Orange’s standout defender is to being cleared from a lower-body injury, SU head coach John Desko said on Wednesday. But even when Mellen is able to play, Desko said, that doesn’t mean he’ll suit up immediately.
“He has a type of injury where he could re-injure it and we don’t really want to put him in that situation,” Desko said. “And with (Brett) Kennedy making that nice adjustment playing down low, we really don’t feel that sense or urgency to get him out there. So our main concern is that he’s 100 percent so he doesn’t re-injure it and he’s good for the rest of the year.”
SU faceoff specialist Jakob Phaup is expected to play against the Blue Jays after leaving the team’s 21-13 win against Hobart, Desko said.
Phaup, a junior, ranks seventh in the nation in faceoff win percentage at 69.8. He and senior Danny Varello (14th, 61.5) have combined to give the Orange one of the nation’s best FOGO units through four games.
Senior defensive midfielder Peter Dearth is day-to-day, Desko said. He suffered a lower-body injury against the Statesmen. It’s currently unclear if he’ll play this weekend.
Desko also said that redshirt freshman attack Mikey Berkman is out for the year. Berkman suffered an apparent knee injury in SU’s 17-4 win over Binghamton on Feb. 15.
