Last week, Syracuse men’s lacrosse held Notre Dame to a season low of nine goals. A key part of their success on defense? The Junkyard Dogs.
When a penalty goes against Syracuse and the team has to defend while down a player, the Junkyard Dogs take the field. Named by the 2023-2024 squad, this unique defensive unit is designed to face the man-down situation head-on and stop the opposing offense from capitalizing.
Syracuse defensive coordinator John Odierna is the mastermind behind it all. Originating back to his coaching days at Manhattan College, Odierna has been running this style of man-down defense for years. Last season, he subbed in an entire new unit, but this season, he said the Junkyard Dogs are a little bit more of a mixed bag.
“The challenge is guys coming into the game cold that haven’t been in yet and maybe don’t have a feel for the game sort of not being in the heat of the battle,” Odierna said. “But I think the positives that outweigh it are that you have guys who are going to bring a little juice and are 100% fresh when they get on the field.”
This season, the Orange defense has already caused 102 turnovers and has a near 88% clear percentage thanks to the defense and man-down efforts. Despite the Junkyard Dogs being classified as a special unit, Odierna said it is cohesive with the entire defense.
“We expect everybody to know the game plan and that every area is going to be important,” Odierna said. “That’s sort of that culture piece too. It’s all one big thing and I think the guys have embraced that.”
Odierna shouted out defenseman Caden Kol for his vital role on the Junkyard Dogs. As a co-captain in his fifth season with the team, Kol has previous experience playing on the man-down unit. Even with players coming in and out each season, Kol said it’s been seamless.
“We’ve had an incredible amount of great defenders come through the program,” Kol said. “I know we trust pretty much everyone on our defense to fill a role whether it’s a man-down or 6-6.”
Kol added that man-down can be difficult at times because the other team has that extra player, but it makes you work on your fundamentals like positioning on the field and keeping your stick up. He said Coach O’s elite scouting and individual work help get them ready each week.
“Everyone on man-down and on our defense does a lot of work on their own studying the other team’s game plan and what their offense runs,” Kol said. “It’s the same thing for 66 as it is for man-down—we all attack the game plan the same.”
In addition to utilizing defensemen on the Junkyard Dogs, Odierna has also included midfielders like Sam English on the man-down this season. Odierna said even though English has a lot on his plate, he enjoys being part of the man-down unit too.
When asked about how the team was able to hold off Notre Dame’s offense this past week, English praised his defensive head coach and said, “You’ll have to ask Coach O.”
“He’s killing it and has been doing so for a while now,” English said. “He’s starting to get the respect he deserves.”
Head coach Gary Gait also gave props to Odierna’s defensive coaching. With No. 1 Cornell coming up next, Gait said Coach O’s always got a good plan—they just need to execute it and have some luck with it.
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