Rebounding from a COVID-19 shortened 2020 lacrosse season
Division 1 powerhouse Syracuse University faced adversity through the cancellation of the ACC athletic season
Syracuse University lacrosse midfielder Tucker Dordevic and the NCAA’s top-ranked Orange were preparing for the team’s upcoming game at Rutgers just like any other week.
The ordinary day was filled with film sessions, weightlifting and practice.
However, Friday, March 13, ended far from normal.
Syracuse coach John Desko broke the news to the team that the NCAA was cancelling spring seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was pretty sad, there were a lot of tears at practice,” Dordevic said. “No one really wanted to leave the field. Everybody just kind of sat there and cried. Practice that day was eerie. We just knew it was coming.”
While some of these players may have had their last day of practice in the orange and blue, Dordevic still has eligibility. A redshirt sophomore, Dordevic was starting to get in his groove, posting eight goals over the previous two games to help the Orange the the No.1 ranking in the country.
With no championship to play for, Dordevic and the team retreated to their separate homes to quarantine and take time to digest the situation.
The midfielder said the team treated the abrupt cancellation as if the season simply ended.
Sticking to his diligent schedule, Dordevic took a week off and resumed training down in San Diego where he is renting an Airbnb with a few buddies — full disclosure, myself included.
Due to COVID-19, many gyms and workout facilities have had to close down, forcing athletes like Dordevic to alter their training methods.
“The hardest thing for me was adapting to not being in the weight room and being on concrete,” Dordevic said. “The way I work, my body got severely fatigued from running on concrete all the time.”
With limited access to squat racks and bench presses, Dordevic has turned to a combination of bands, bodyweight circuits and whatever weights are around to keep in shape and prepare for the 2021 season.
Recruiting a strong freshman class, receiving a few players from the transfer portal and returning a majority of the team, the Orange look poised to defend their top spot and make a run at the national championship and win their 12th title in 2021.
“We’re bringing everybody back,” Dordevic said. “There’s no reason that we shouldn’t be able to re-create what we had going in 2020, but also I think we can do it way better.”
