JoJo Marasco never imagined Syracuse would be in this position. With just one game remaining in the regular season, the Orange owns a mediocre 7-6 record.

The six losses match the program’s number of defeats in its previous three seasons combined. Of SU’s seven wins, only one came over a ranked opponent, then-No. 11 Princeton. The Tigers have since fallen out of the rankings.

‘If we started the season over again and before, we knew this was going to happen,’ Marasco said, ‘I couldn’t tell you this was going to happen.’

But Marasco quickly said he and his teammates can only move on and look forward to their final regular-season game against No. 4 Notre Dame (10-1, 5-0 Big East) on Saturday and the Big East tournament the next week. The Orange can’t erase its most disappointing performance to date, but it has a chance to save its season with a big win over the Fighting Irish or a run through the conference tournament.

SU (7-6, 3-2 Big East) must make the most of its last opportunities to have a chance at making the NCAA tournament. The team’s resume lacks a marquee victory, which could ultimately keep it from postseason play for the first time since 2007.

Senior attack Tommy Palasek said the Orange isn’t thinking ahead to the NCAA tournament. Instead, he and his teammates are focused on the games still remaining on the schedule.

‘I don’t think we really have the right to look past anybody right now,’ Palasek said. ‘We’ve got to find ways to win big games, not just the ones we’re supposed to win. We’ve got to find a way to be a good team.’

For a Syracuse team that entered the season with uncertainty around the field, it’s been a struggle to find that formula.

Head coach John Desko said the defense is still making costly mistakes. Meanwhile, the Orange’s futility on faceoffs – at 46.5 percent – has been an enduring problem, contributing to an overworked defense and a frustrated offense.

Tim Desko said the young team has been too tense and needs to loosen up for the final stretch. He said the little things have added up to hurt the team in its six losses.

For Marasco, all the possible answers to the program’s down season mean little. The junior midfielder said the Orange has the talent. It just needs to produce.

‘I don’t know if we’re just a little too jacked up out there, or it’s because we’re young, but it’s the end of the season,’ Marasco said. ‘Those excuses need to be thrown out, and we need to really focus this week on clearing the ball and cutting down those turnovers.’

Palasek echoed Marasco’s sentiment, pointing to SU’s performance against then-No. 8 Duke. The Orange battled the Blue Devils to a tie in the fourth quarter before falling short for a 12-10 loss.

Against then-No. 1 Virginia, Syracuse took a 6-4 lead into halftime and pushed the Cavaliers to the brink in a 14-10 loss.

But for each impressive performance, there has been an equally puzzling one.

The Orange dropped its first-ever Big East contest to Villanova – a team that had lost three of its previous four games – 11-10 in March. Last Saturday, a Georgetown team on a three-game losing streak spoiled Senior Day in the Carrier Dome with a 10-8 upset of the Orange.

The inconsistent play ultimately has Syracuse in a precarious position for the NCAA tournament.

‘We know we have a good enough team. We’ve played with the best,’ Palasek said. ‘We’ve also shown we can stoop down to other levels but just preparation, just got to go back into this week and keep working hard.’

Tim Desko said the loss to Georgetown stung for that night, but by Sunday, the team already started watching film of Notre Dame. He and his teammates put the loss behind them and know they have one last opportunity to save their season.

Desko said the Orange knows what it has to do to seize that chance. And Palasek said SU is ready to ensure it’s prepared for it.

‘We’ve got a long week of preparation and we’re not out of it,’ Palasek said. ‘So it’s one thing if we were out of it. Maybe guys would put their heads down a little bit, but no one’s trying to do that.’

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on April 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu