Scott Firman will likely never be too extroverted when it comes to lacrosse, regardless of what happens. You’ll probably never see him demoralized either.

In his two years at Syracuse as a long-stick midfielder on the faceoff unit, he’s experienced both ends of the spectrum with faceoff success and it’s trained him to value each side.

“My highs aren’t too high, my lows aren’t too low,” Firman said. “I think when you do set expectations like that, you’re kind of setting yourself up for either great success or failure.”

It’s especially necessary for a defensive player, he said, since the key after a mistake is to get off the field and forget about it. That even-keeled approach has helped cultivate the mind of a sophomore who largely flies under the radar, partly because his scrappy, rough-housing style of play takes precedence over a flashy skill set.

Coming in the same recruiting class and from the same high school as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2013, SU midfielder Jordan Evans, Firman has surprised some — albeit not those who know him within the program — with his performance for No. 1 Syracuse (11-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) this season.

“He wasn’t under the radar for us,” SU head coach John Desko said. “He’s done a terrific job all year. He’s getting a lot of experience, got some last year, a lot this year.”

Evans and Firman, both from nearby Jamesville-DeWitt High School, have been playing lacrosse together since first grade. Evans said that throughout their youth, coaches would stick Firman on the other teams’ best player, no matter where he was on the field.

Off the field, he’d be trained to go up against bigger and faster opponents, too. Firman has two older brothers, Nick, a senior on the lacrosse team at Mount St. Mary’s (Maryland), and Matt, a former Colgate hockey player. They’d rough up the younger Scott, engaging in street hockey, backyard football, backyard lacrosse, knee hockey and anything else they could get their hands on.

So when the 6-foot, 195-pound Firman locked down 6-foot-4, 240-pound Myles Jones for part of Sunday’s ACC title game, there was little that could faze him.

“Playing with the older kids and having the older brothers that he’s had beat the crap out of him since he was younger,” Evans said, “I think that definitely helps him when you get in these games where maybe this guy is kind of like his older brother.”

Firman was mainly a close defender in high school. He was the No. 4 prospect at that position according to Inside Lacrosse, but possessed the versatility that has allowed him to fill the long-stick middie role with the Orange.

It was a skill set ingrained in him that Syracuse needed right away.

“For him to come in and give us the depth at long stick … and if we needed to bring him down at close defense, he could play there also,” Desko said. “So he’s a pretty well-rounded player.”

Evans said Firman’s low-key demeanor allows him to be even more effective when he “shows” his game rather than “speaks” it. He stood in silence for 17 seconds before uttering the phrase “mental toughness” as the one he’d use to describe Firman.

“I think it takes a lot to rattle me,” Firman said.

And now that he’s emerged as an integral piece of Syracuse’s midfield, he’s no longer overlooked.

He may not be a household name, but is still on the front lines for the best team in the country.

“I don’t know if I overshadowed him but he did fly under the radar a little bit,” Evans said. “People now know that he can do a lot of great things.”

Published on April 30, 2015 at 12:58 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman