In his role, Titus has made the transition nicely. The short-stick defensive midfielder has played in all 14 games so far as part of the man-down unit. He has three ground balls, but no points for the No. 6/7-ranked Orange (10-4).
“It’s been a dream to get that Division I experience, but also playing at the Dome is pretty cool and, like, we played at Notre Dame two weekends ago, and to play against all these teams I watched growing up is unreal,” Titus said by phone recently.
Titus, who earned All-American honors from multiple organizations his junior and senior years at Union, said there was a natural adjustment, but he never doubted he fit.
“The first couple of weeks was an adjustment, the pace of play and the speed the ball goes at, but after that I felt confident that I fit here and could contribute,” Titus said. “There’s just so much talent here that might not play here as much as somewhere else, but I’m just happy to contribute.
“We don’t play a ton,” Titus added of the man-down unit, “but when we’re in our job it is to stop the ball and clear it.”
Titus said just being at another school did bring back memories of being a freshman, but that since head coach Gary Gait was bringing in so many graduate transfers, they were able to hang out together early on and form a bond.
Titus said the Orange feel pretty good about their season, noting that their four losses are by a total of five goals, and three of them came in overtime.
“But, like I’ve been coached everywhere I went, when you face adversity, it can only help in the long run,” Titus said. “We know we’re one of the best teams in the country, and we’ve just got to go out and prove it.”
Titus was a film studies, English & studio arts major at Union, and he’s getting a Master’s in television, radio and film from Syracuse’s well-known Newhouse School.
“It’s been awesome to have that major Division I lacrosse experience and further my career goals,” Titus said. “The professors at Union were great, but here it’s a lot more hands-on. Here we have our own production studios, our own TV station.
“I’m trying to find an internship in Los Angeles or New York for this summer, so fingers crossed on that,” he added. “It’s so hard to break into the industry, really, take anything I can get and do my projects on the side and hope that one day I get to show them.”
SIENA MEN KEPT BELIEVING
At the Siena men’s team’s practice Tuesday, one player after the other answered the variety of questions about their stunning four-goal comeback in 44 seconds to beat Manhattan 11-10 on Saturday the same way. They never stopped believing.
“Our coach is just always reiterating, ‘Believe. Keep believing’ MAAC conference, anything can happen, so we just kept believing,” said faceoff man Dylan Pape, who won all six that he took in the fourth quarter and passed 400 for his career, becoming just the third Saint to do so.
“It says there’s a lot of fight in this team,” Travis Fry added. “We stuck together through a pretty hard time and just kept believing.”
Freshman Caden Olmstead’s shot from out top gave Siena the go-ahead goal with just 2.6 seconds left.
“I didn’t know how much time was left, I just knew I had to get it off quick,” Olmstead said. “There was a bunch of guys in front, so I think it kind of screened the goalie.
Head coach Liam Gleason was glad that everyone contributed to one of the most memorable comebacks in program history.
“We’ve had a lot of one-goal games this year, and I’m really excited to be on the other side of one,” Gleason said. “All the little things that go into that … our guys have always been a team that played hard for 60 minutes, but to execute the way they did is certainly going to give us a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Siena (4-4 conference, 6-7 overall) is tied for fifth place in the league with Marist, which owns the head-to-head win over the Saints, and six teams make the conference tournament, starting April 27. If the Saints beat Mount St. Mary’s on the road Saturday, they’re in. If not, it’s unlikely, but not impossible, to qualify.
Also, the league tournament must be held at a full-member school, which the top two teams in the standings, Sacred Heart and LIU, aren’t. Sacred Heart will be next year. That means the tournament will be held at either Manhattan or Quinnipiac.
AWARDS
UAlbany long-stick midfielder Jake Piseno was named the America East’s Men’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week, the second time he’s earned the honor this season. Piseno gathered five ground balls, had three turnovers and scored his ninth goal of the season. Piseno is second in Division I in caused turnovers with 2.64 per game.
SUNY Cobleskill’s Robert Staubitz was named the NAC Men’s Lacrosse Co-Rookie of the Week. In a pair of losses to MCLA and SUNY Canton, the freshman midfielder posted three goals, four assists, 10 ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Siena graduate student goalie Sabrina Krasner was named MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week. In two conference victories, Krasner made 20 saves for a .606 save percentage.
Siena’s freshman attackman Caden Olmstead was named MAAC Men’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Week. Olmstead’s crank scored the go-ahead goal with 2.6 seconds left, capping a four-goal rally in 44 seconds, in an 11-10 win over Manhattan. Olmstead scored three goals both in a loss to Marist and the win over Manhattan. He leads the team in points with 45 and is second in goals with 36.
Russell Sage junior defenseman Joe Johnson, a South Glens Falls graduate, made the USILA D3 Team of the Week. He spearheaded the Gators’ defense into a 16-7 win over Utica by causing six turnovers, grabbing five ground balls and helping to keep Utica scoreless for over 25 minutes.
Saint Rose graduate student Eoghan Sweeney, a Niskayuna graduate, made the USILA S2 Team of the Week. Sweeney won 20 of 23 faceoffs and grabbed 11 ground balls in the Golden Knights’ 13-10 win over AIC. Earlier in the week, he won 19 of 20 faceoffs and had 15 ground balls in a 15-9 win over Franklin Pierce.
Tags: Stringing Sticks Union graduate Jake Titus fitting Syracuse Sports
