The Daily OrangeMcCullough: He's no Leveille, but Daniello more than adequate in lefty role in SU attack
By Andy McCullough
Posted: 4/12/09, 8:57 PM EST Section: Sports
Day by day and dodge by dodge, Chris Daniello's confidence grows. Goal by goal, more people notice.
"I'm feeling pretty good," Daniello said following his second-straight three-goal day, this one in Saturday's brain-numbing bore of a 10-3 victory over Rutgers. "Pretty confident. Starting to feel loose out there. Comfortable."
Sure, Saturday's game was boring. It was a cakewalk by a Syracuse team sleepwalking through its fourth game in 15 days. Still, despite the tedium, there are positives to spread around. Daniello and fellow attack Stephen Keogh notched hat tricks. Goalie John Galloway shined for the second game in a row - eight saves and one goal allowed this time. Gavin Jenkinson controlled the faceoff circle, taking seven-of-nine draws. After two wins this week, the bitter taste of the Big City Class loss to Princeton has faded. Three regular season games remain.
All of this is well and good as the Orange jostles for playoff position. And all is well and good with the Syracuse attack line, now that Daniello has begun to assert himself.
"We're happy," Desko said, "very happy with how he's come along, especially this last half of the season he's played so far. He's starting to put some points up and looked easy while he was doing it out there, too." Desko added, "I thought he really got into a groove. I thought he looked very comfortable out there early."
Who is Chris Daniello? For starters, he's short (5-foot-7) and stocky (182 pounds). He's a junior. He majors in finance. He played midfield at John Jay High School in Cross River, N.Y. He switched positions and now shares the left attack spot with Tim Desko.
Because Daniello plays on an attack line with passing wizard Kenny Nims and sneaky right-handed finisher Stephen Keogh, he floats in the ether, a lesser-star in Syracuse's constellation.
But because Daniello favors his left hand and plays attack, he's a crucial puzzle piece for the Orange offense.
See, an attack line needs balance: Guys who can pass, guys who slip into open space, guys who cause matchup problems, and yes, guys who shoot left-handed and guys who shoot right-handed. An unbalanced attack line - too many feeders and too few finishers, or too many righties and too few lefties - limits options.
"I'm feeling pretty good," Daniello said following his second-straight three-goal day, this one in Saturday's brain-numbing bore of a 10-3 victory over Rutgers. "Pretty confident. Starting to feel loose out there. Comfortable."
Sure, Saturday's game was boring. It was a cakewalk by a Syracuse team sleepwalking through its fourth game in 15 days. Still, despite the tedium, there are positives to spread around. Daniello and fellow attack Stephen Keogh notched hat tricks. Goalie John Galloway shined for the second game in a row - eight saves and one goal allowed this time. Gavin Jenkinson controlled the faceoff circle, taking seven-of-nine draws. After two wins this week, the bitter taste of the Big City Class loss to Princeton has faded. Three regular season games remain.
All of this is well and good as the Orange jostles for playoff position. And all is well and good with the Syracuse attack line, now that Daniello has begun to assert himself.
"We're happy," Desko said, "very happy with how he's come along, especially this last half of the season he's played so far. He's starting to put some points up and looked easy while he was doing it out there, too." Desko added, "I thought he really got into a groove. I thought he looked very comfortable out there early."
Who is Chris Daniello? For starters, he's short (5-foot-7) and stocky (182 pounds). He's a junior. He majors in finance. He played midfield at John Jay High School in Cross River, N.Y. He switched positions and now shares the left attack spot with Tim Desko.
Because Daniello plays on an attack line with passing wizard Kenny Nims and sneaky right-handed finisher Stephen Keogh, he floats in the ether, a lesser-star in Syracuse's constellation.
But because Daniello favors his left hand and plays attack, he's a crucial puzzle piece for the Orange offense.
See, an attack line needs balance: Guys who can pass, guys who slip into open space, guys who cause matchup problems, and yes, guys who shoot left-handed and guys who shoot right-handed. An unbalanced attack line - too many feeders and too few finishers, or too many righties and too few lefties - limits options.
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Dwayne
posted 4/13/09 @ 6:39 PM EST
When given the change he can play and he can score. He is fast and plays with a great deal of soul. He only plays half of each game, and has 16 goals so if you do the math and he plays the whole game, watch out. (Continued…)
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