Syracuse junior Chris Daniello cuts down the net after the Orange won the Division I lacrosse championship on May 25.

AP photo / Michael Dwyer

PROVIDENCE — If anyone knows about the strength of the Syracuse lacrosse program, it’s Chris Burdick.

Burdick is the head coach at Providence College, but he has deep roots in central New York. He grew up in Cortland, a few exits down Route 81 from Syracuse. His final stop as an assistant coach was at Cornell, the Ivy League power that annually clashes with the Orange for Eastern supremacy.

The latest matchup between the Big Red and the Orange came last week in the NCAA national championship game. Syracuse came from behind to tie Cornell, then won its 11th national title in an overtime thriller at Gillette Stadium. Burdick, along with all of his Providence College players, was happy with the result.

“Syracuse is the best of the best, a special entity,” said Burdick. “Now we have something to shoot at.”

Beginning next season, PC can start aiming at the Orange. The Big East will sponsor a men’s lacrosse league for the first time and the Friars and SU are founding members. They are being joined by Georgetown, Notre Dame, Rutgers, St. John’s and Villanova. The teams will all play each other, with the Friars traveling to the Carrier Dome for the second straight season and Syracuse coming to PC’s new artificial-turf field in 2011.

While Syracuse is expected to be the dominant power in the Big East, it is far from the only national player. Notre Dame has played in the last four NCAA Tournaments, and this year Villanova made the field. Georgetown has improved substantially in recent years, and Rutgers and St. John’s are located in tradition-rich lacrosse areas.

Competing among this group is Burdick’s charge. Playing out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with no scholarships, the Friars won the league crown in 2004, 2006 and 2007, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in each of those three seasons. The team also captured MAAC regular-season titles in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2008. The Friars finished 6-9 this season.

“We think we can be very competitive in lacrosse here at Providence,” said Burdick. “Our goal is to build this program and not only get into the NCAA Tournament, like we have already, but get in and win some games.”

To meet such a lofty goal, the Friars face plenty of work. Syracuse, for example, divides the NCAA-maximum 12 scholarships among its players. PC is in the process of fundraising to offer any.

“It’s a huge jump for us, but we’re committed to it. We will get to six and a half scholarships within three years and hope for more over time. I’m out there fundraising right now,” said PC athletic director Bob Driscoll.

Without football, the Friars lack a sport outside of men’s basketball that attracts big crowds. Lacrosse has that potential, say Driscoll and Burdick.

“We’re excited about the growth of the sport, both locally and nationally,” said Burdick. “The game is growing tremendously. I just finished recruiting in Texas, Florida, Philadelphia and Baltimore. My assistant told me that more kids are playing lacrosse in San Diego County than baseball right now.”

This year’s PC team has roots from around the country. The bulk of the players come from New England, New York and Maryland, but the current freshman class includes Evan Olsen of Tampa, Fla., and Matt Weigand of Los Gatos, Calif. Burdick does not have a Rhode Islander on his team, but he’s quite familiar with many players in the area and has ties to local youth groups.

“There is a tremendous wave of kids excited about lacrosse in Rhode Island right now,” he said.

PC will continue to play Brown and will add a game against new Division I program Bryant next Easter weekend. The Friars will continue to play a few of their rivals from the MAAC (like Siena), but those days are now over. Providence finished 71-40 in that conference from 1996 to 2009. Such lofty results will be difficult to achieve early on in the Big East, but that is clearly the goal.

“Bob Driscoll has said that we’ll look back at joining the Big East for lacrosse as the turning point for our program, and I couldn’t agree more,” said Burdick. “This is definitely a big challenge, but we are positioned for success and can’t be more excited about this opportunity.”

kmcnamar@projo.com