Before the season started, Danny Varello said he wanted to stop focusing so much on technique and rely more on his natural strength — being quick off the whistle. He lost the starting job to Jakob Phaup midway through last season but still split time at the X with the then-sophomore, including going 16-for-27 against North Carolina. For the whole season, Varello took 126 face-offs to Phaup’s 226. 

This year, he expected to split time again.

“It’ll be a good one-two punch because we’re both just as good,” Varello said. “So just one of those things where we gotta see who the opponent is and see who’s the right fit for the job.” 

Varello took 17 face-offs to Phaup’s 22 against Colgate and received long stretches in the first and third quarters. Against Binghamton, Phaup took just one more draw than Varello, but it was a 17-4 blowout. In the Orange’s first top-ten test of the season, it was all Phaup. Varello didn’t see the field for any draws as Desko rode a specialist that went 16-of-19 at the X in a game where SU trailed by three goals at halftime.  

On Friday night, as Syracuse (3-0) beat Hobart (3-1) to retain the Kraus-Simmons Trophy, 21-13, Varello and Phaup shared the middle X throughout the first half before Varello ended the game having taken 14 more face-offs. Hobart tried to play matchup games with its two face-off specialists, SU head coach John Desko said, at times sending both to the middle X before withdrawing one. But the Orange just stuck with whoever was winning, and in the second half, that was Varello. The senior ended 15-for-26 on draws.

On Friday, though, SU struggled to win face-offs in the second quarter, losing the battle 5-3. Hobart controlled the ball off the final three draws and scored 11 seconds after the second of those while on a man-up. After being down three goals with a minute left in the first half, the Statesmen went into the break down 7-6. 

Phaup came out of the break at the X but lost two in a row. Varello lost one too after that, but then won the next two to quell the Statesmen’s momentum. In the first half, a Phaup face-off loss while man-down led to a Hobart goal. In the second, Syracuse scored while down a man because Varello snagged a ground ball to win a face-off. 

“Face-offs are all about getting into a rhythm,” Varello said. “… We get in tune with the refs, we start hearing the whistle a lot better and it kind of just kicks in.”

Varello’s draw wins didn’t always end up in a score on the ensuing play. But it slowed down the pace at which Hobart could attack. Coming into the game, Grant Murphy said the Statesmen looked to push the ball and attack even without numbers. Without draw wins, Hobart had to worry about clearing the ball first and then attacking. It slowed down the pace of the Statesmen’s attack and only on one occasion was it able to capitalize in transition after a clear. 

The number of possessions gained from winning the face-offs was also crucial as Hobart head coach Greg Raymond said his defense was worn down from how long it had to be active on the field. That let the Orange go on a 4-0 run to end the third quarter and begin the fourth. 

Varello worked with former Virginia face-off specialist Tommy Kelly over this past summer and said Kelly had some of the fastest hands he’d ever taken a face-off against. That improved Varello’s reaction time too. And on Friday, on most occasions, he was first to the ball and did what he wanted to do coming into the season: trust his move. 

“I think last year, I wasn’t super confident with my own move and stance and technique,” Varello said before the season. “Right now I feel as comfortable as I’ve ever been, and it’s just been coming way more naturally to me.”

Published on February 28, 2020 at 11:47 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder