SYRACUSE — His body could use the rest, but Greg Niewieroski has no time to deal with the nagging physical pains.
Niewieroski, a junior attacker for the Syracuse University men's lacrosse team, has taken a beating this season. He feels soreness in his left shoulder every day, even after receiving two cortisone shots in the shoulder two months ago. The Watertown native has occasional swelling in his left wrist, which he sprained in practice earlier this year.
But Niewieroski has grown to handle the aches on his left arm. He has no desire to miss any games, especially since SU is one win away from the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament. The third-ranked Orange (13-2) faces No. 6 Notre Dame (14-2) in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. today in Ithaca.
"I don't really think about it," Niewieroski said of the physical distress. "My wrist feels a lot better. My shoulder only feels bad when I shoot really hard from the outside."
Fortunately for Niewieroski, he does most of his damage from close range. He was assigned the role of crease attacker upon his arrival at Syracuse in 2005. His biggest responsibility was to weave between the defense, catch passes in front of the goal and score as much as possible.
Niewieroski has accepted the task of being the Orange's primary crease option this season. He's started all 15 games and has already amassed a career-high 25 points, including 21 goals.
"He's been doing a great job all season long finishing with the ball," said Kenny Nims, a fellow attacker and area native. "He's at the right place at the right time, and he always helps out with me and Mike (Leveille) working from behind."
"Those guys are looking for me all the time on the inside," Niewieroski said. "I'm just trying to do my best to put it in the back of the net."
Nims said it seems like Niewieroski gets pummeled by the defense all the time, and they don't want him taking too many hits. Niewieroski, listed at 6-foot-1, 201 pounds, brushes off the fear of further injuring his slumping left shoulder and wrist. The proof is in his shooting percentage where he's converting over 45 percent of his shots, which is the best of any starter.
Immaculate Heart Central product Brendan Loftus said the perfect example depicting Niewieroski's toughness was his gritty goal in a 12-11 loss to Colgate on May 3. With the Orange trailing 12-10 in the final minute, Niewieroski took a feed from Nims and was drilled by two defenders.
Somehow, Niewieroski instinctively applied a fake and scored while getting hammered to the side. The goal gave SU a moment of hope.
"Coach (Roy) Simmons (III) saw that and said, 'That's why we go to the big guy,'" Loftus said.
Syracuse head coach John Desko will certainly need Niewieroski today against one of the nation's premier goaltenders. Irish senior Joey Kemp is a two-time All-American and has the confidence to complement his stellar statistics. The best to way to counter Kemp's performance could be an efficient scoring day from Niewieroski.
"I think it's very important because those are your best shots, from the crease area," Desko said. "If we can shake our guys open on the inside, many times the goaltender isn't facing the ball, but facing the attackman feeding it from behind. Throwing a quick one inside before he sees it will certainly help our cause."
That likely means more beatings for Niewieroski. He said the training staff has advised him to take a month off from playing once the season is over. But until then, the pain can wait, at least for one more weekend.
"We just want to do everything we can to beat Notre Dame," Niewieroski said. "That's all we've been really thinking about. That's our main goal. Get by them, and we can deal with the next team."
