The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Stephen Dockery

As the Syracuse men's lacrosse team ended practice last Friday at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Roy Simmons III pulled Jovan Miller aside.

It was 24 hours before the Orange was set to take on Johns Hopkins, and the assistant coach with the omnipresent visor had some news for the freshman midfielder from Christian Brothers Academy.

"He just said, 'Jovan, you're going to be taking a lot of shifts,'" Miller said. "And he said, 'I don't want you to do anything out of your abilities,' and he said that we're going to trust you.

"'Basically, you've got the keys to the car.'"

All season long Miller wanted a shot, an opportunity, enough time to flash the speed, agility and 5-foot-11, 190-pound frame that had enticed both lacrosse and football scouts in high school.

So as his teammates walked off Homewood, the century-old relic that serves as Hopkins' stadium, Miller had one thought.

[ITALICS]This is my chance.[/ITALICS]

The next day against the Blue Jays, he made the most of it.

Paired with juniors Dan Hardy and Pat Perritt on the second offensive midfield line, Miller scored two goals in the third period, the first of his career, to keep Syracuse close before it gutted out a 14-13 overtime win.

When the No. 3 Orange (4-1) hosts Binghamton (2-1) Saturday at 3:30 p.m., SU head coach John Desko said the three would probably stay together as the second unit. Seniors Steven Brooks and Brendan Loftus and junior Matt Abbott lead the first line.

On a team with several key freshmen - John Galloway starts in goal, and Joel White has scooped 22 groundballs as a defensive middie - Miller's athleticism stands out, an old running back able to burst through the midfield and create openings for his teammates.

"It's safe to say there hasn't been one game where he wasn't the best athlete on the field," Perritt said.

Maybe because of that, for a while it wasn't clear what sort of field Miller would play on in college. He waffled between the two sports, unsure if he wanted to be a midfielder or a safety. He said SU offered both a football and a lacrosse scholarship, but Miller sat on the offers for months, unsure of what to do.

With his status on the football team uncertain, by last March he had settled on lacrosse.

But the transition was difficult at first. He had played football since he was seven. He had only played lacrosse since seventh grade.

Continued...

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