Jeremy Thompson loves to run. He loves to condition himself enough that he ran cross-country from seventh grade all the way through high school to stay in shape for lacrosse season.

Gavin Jenkinson is the opposite. Watching Jenkinson lumber up and down a lacrosse field, it’s evident that, as he admits, his daily exercise revolves around the weight room. There’s none of the effortless grace of Thompson, who gets around the field fluently.

At first glance, it’s easy to see how both players could respectively help the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team. Just not at the same position.

But that’s exactly what has happened in SU’s first two games this season. Thompson and Jenkinson, both faceoff specialists, have dominated the faceoff X thus far, winning 69 percent (31-of-45) of their midfield draws. The duo’s respective styles have worked in conjunction to form a lethal combination that sparks the Syracuse offensive attack.

‘I think their different styles is what makes them such a great combination for our team,’ senior attack Chris Daniello said. ‘Gavin’s more of a traditional FOGO (face off, get off) type of guy. Jeremy can go forward and start a fast break for us.’

Both Thompson and Jenkinson have given the Orange offense an added dimension it hasn’t sniffed since 2007, when it finished the season winning 60.5 percent of its draws behind Jon Jerome and Danny Brennan.

And both Jenkinson and Thompson know how each of their styles works to provide that offense.

Jenkinson, a 6-foot-1, 218-pound senior, relies on his size to out-muscle his opponents and push the ball to SU’s midfield. Those midfielders then start the transition attack, while Jenkinson quickly scurries off the field. He’s the traditional faceoff specialist, and he’s mastered it so far this season, winning nearly 71 percent (17-for-24) of his draws.

‘Our styles are a little bit different,’ Thompson said. ‘I think his style is more of a FOGO guy that can get it out to our wings for us. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Gavin’s a great athlete.’

On the other hand, Thompson’s speed and electricity on the field adds another dimension to the SU offense when he wins a faceoff, which he’s done 67 percent (14-for-21) of the time this season.

He doesn’t look to push it out to the wings. Instead, he looks to clamp down on the ball and come up with it immediately. No scurrying off the field like Jenkinson. Rather, toward the opposing cage, leading a fast-break attack for the Orange.

It’s happened twice already this season. In SU’s game against Denver, Thompson took the ball all the way down the field and whipped it into the top left corner of the goal. And on Sunday against Army, Thompson helped break a 5-5 tie when he scooped up the ball out of the faceoff, zoomed down the field and found attack Stephen Keogh in front of the net for a score.

‘He’s a great offensive middie, and he can also faceoff,’ Jenkinson said of Thompson. ‘He’s a huge threat whenever he has the ball.’

And the last step in creating that fearsome faceoff duo is working to combine their unique styles and help each other out, something the pair frequently does throughout the week and during games.

They’ll watch film together all this week on Virginia’s faceoff specialist, Ryan Benincasa. They’ll see if he uses a rake move or a handle jam to try and win the draw. And they’ll figure out the best way to attack him by practicing on the field.

‘We try to do it about once every day,’ Jenkinson said. ‘And we try to go up against one another in practice as much as possible, too. A lot of times to scout the opponent, one guy will do what, for example, Virginia’s faceoff move is to the other.’

The pair also frequently makes in-game adjustments as they see more and more of their faceoff opponents in the X.

Particularly if they lose a faceoff. They don’t like to lose.

‘We talk through the whole game,’ Thompson said. ‘If we’re losing that faceoff, we’re not happy. We try to figure out what (the opposing player) did on that faceoff, those kinds of questions. We give advice to see what the other guy’s doing, how we can counter him, how we can beat him.’

Those losses have been few and far between, though, thus far this season. And Thompson and Jenkinson plan to keep it that way.

‘My mindset is, and I think it’s the same with Gav, I want us to do better,’ Thompson said. ‘I don’t want to just win the majority of draws. I want to get up to the 70s, maybe 80 percent.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on March 2, 2010 at 12:00 pm