Ben Williams touched his right knee to the ground and leaned in for the faceoff at the start of the fourth quarter, just as he had 85 other times for Syracuse this year.

The whistle blew, and instead of immediately pouncing on the ball as Virginia’s Tanner Ottenbreit did, Williams winced and dropped his stick. He laid motionless, bent over at midfield as Greg Coholan and Michael Howard teamed up to score for Virginia.

Williams got up on his own after the goal, grabbing his right shoulder area as he jogged off the field. He didn’t come back for the rest of the game, but one of SU’s most pleasant surprises of the season is expected to return soon.

“I expect to see him next week,” head coach John Desko said, referring to his team’s next game on Saturday against St. John’s in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Williams went 15-for-19 in three quarters of faceoffs for No. 1 Syracuse (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) en route to a 15-9 victory against No. 7 Virginia (3-1, 0-1) on Sunday.

The 5-foot-11 faceoff specialist won his first five draws, and 11 of his first 13. He again set the tone for the Syracuse offense that dominated possession in the first half, and didn’t let Virginia touch the ball until almost five minutes into the contest.

“Ben did another terrific job giving us those possessions to put a lot of pressure on their defense,” Desko said.

Syracuse held a 12-4 advantage up to the point of Williams’ departure. The injury was a non-contact one for Williams, as Ottenbreit didn’t touch him on the faceoff that forced Williams out of the game.

The early exit, however, forced Desko to delve into a faceoff group that boasts quantity, but its quality is mostly unknown. Sophomore transfer Zack Vehar was tabbed as Williams’ replacement.

The sophomore midfielder went 5-for-7 in a quarter’s worth of faceoffs, but Syracuse looked out of sync through most of his time at the X. The Orange was outscored 5-3 in Williams’ absence.

With six of the Orange’s eight remaining games against ranked teams, it appears Desko will respond to Williams’ questioned status with a rotating group against some of Division I’s top talent.

“I think it was good experience for Vehar today and you’ll see another guy or two going forward in the future that we have a lot of confidence in,” Desko said.

Aside from Vehar and Williams, Cal Paduda, Joe DeMarco and Mike Iacono are the only ones with any faceoffs taken this season. DeMarco went 5-for-13 from the X as a freshman last year, and Iacono went 8-for-25.

Paduda seems the most likely of the trio to see time at the X if Williams is unable to play against St. John’s. The sophomore was one of SU’s primary faceoff specialists in 2013 before dealing with hand injuries last year.

Regardless of how much confidence Desko voices in his team’s faceoff depth, it seems that a team familiar with questions at the X in years past will be back in a familiar place if Williams is unable to recover quickly.

Said Desko: “In one way we feel good that we can get Ben back for next week, and we had another guy that got some very good experience today.”

Published on March 3, 2015 at 12:09 am

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @connorgrossman