May 18, 2008

by Mark Medina, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

ITHACA, N.Y. -- As soon as the final horn sounded, the Syracuse men's lacrosse team rushed onto Cornell's Schoellkopf Field. But you didn't catch them celebrating.

No, not in this game. Save that for next week, but only if SU successfully caps off a storybook championship season after missing the NCAA tournament in 2007 for the first time in 25 years. Thanks to an adversarial 11-9 NCAA quarterfinal victory over No. 6 Notre Dame (14-3), No. 3 Syracuse will face No 2 Virginia in the final four at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. on May 24.

Instead of celebrating afterwards, the Orange (14-2) gave each other hugs --- a sign that suggested strong team unity after a game that almost shattered its hopes to return to the final four for the first time since 2006's meeting with the Cavaliers.

"Now that the hard work has paid off, it feels great," Syracuse attackman Mike Leveille said. "But we aren't satisfied yet. We'll get back to work this week and shoot for two more."

The Orange almost didn't have a chance to play this week. It trailed Notre Dame, 9-8, after midfielder Zach Brenneman scored with 10:03 remaining in the game. But on a day the Fighting Irish devoted its efforts to limiting Leveille to one goal, the rest of Syracuse's offense filled the void.

First came midfielder Pat Perritt at the 6:23 mark to tie the game. Then came midfielder Dan Hardy who took advantage of an unsettled situation by firing an over-the-shoulder cannon for a 10-9 lead with 5:05 left. Midfielder Steven Brooks provided the insurance goal for an 11-9 edge with 3:14 remaining.

"In the fourth quarter, we really settled down and gained our composure," said Hardy, who led SU with a hat trick and an assist. "We did the little things right."

That wasn't the case when the Orange opened the second half. Fighting Irish faceoff specialist Taylor Clagett won the opening faceoff, Notre Dame midfielder Michael Podgajny scooped up the groundball and marched down the field before firing it into the cage to make it 6-3 with 14:34 left in the quarter. It was just the beginning.

"We were trying to put pressure on (John) Galloway," said Podgaijny, who, along with attackman Alex Wharton, led the Fighting Irish with two goals. "As a freshman keeper, it's tough coming out of a stoppage at halftime and not seeing a lot of shots."

Galloway saw more shots by that point. The Fighting Irish reeled off five unanswered goals for a 7-6 lead with 5:02 left. As Syracuse coach John Desko observed, "Notre Dame showed why they're in the second round of the tournament."

Galloway thought he didn't keep his stick up during Notre Dame's run. After Brenneman shot the ball past him on the run for the 9-8 lead, Galloway felt he reached a crossroads.

"I knew there were two ways I could go," Galloway said. "I could keep getting scored on or I could change it around."

Galloway chose the latter, making five key saves, holding Notre Dame scoreless the rest of the game and playing what Desko described as a "composed freshman". His final test came following the Fighting Irish's timeout with 1:44 remaining. Notre Dame attackman Duncan Swezey swung around the cage and fired but Galloway made the door-step stop. Wharton tried a layup off the rebound but Galloway was there again to make the grab.

Syracuse breathed a sigh of relief. But it knew the game didn't have to be so close. "It would've been nice to get a bigger lead early," Leveille said.

Despite Notre Dame goalie Joey Kemp making 11 first-half saves (20 the whole game), Syracuse maintained a comfortable 6-2 lead at halftime. SU faceoff specialist Danny Brennan won 7-of-10 draws against Clagett, who's ranked right behind him at No. 2.

Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan felt it was a heavy task to battle Brennan despite the pulled muscle he suffered against Massachusetts on April 26 that's caused the SU coaching staff to limit his runs. But Brennan showed no signs of weakness. He won the faceoffs. Syracuse held possessions and forced the issue. And Notre Dame stayed on its toes.

"I didn't think we played badly," Corrigan said. "We just didn't have the ball. It's awfully hard to play against `Make it, Take it.'"

Consequently, Notre Dame only mustered 14 first-half shots, causing the Fighting Irish to make bad decisions similar to when it faced adversity in last week's over-time victory over Colgate.

"That frustration turned into us wanted to make more happen when we get the ball," Wharton said. "You start playing almost in panic mode."

But that urgency also caused Notre Dame's run. Notre Dame's run caused Syracuse to buckle up and rise to the occasion. That experience, Desko and players said, will ultimately help Syracuse should a pressure-packed situation happen against Virginia --- the same team that beat SU in overtime on March 1.

Hardy saw that game as the season's turning point because it showed the Orange could compete with the nation's top teams in close games. Case in point, Syracuse prevailed in overtime victories against Georgetown and Johns Hopkins. And it prevailed again on Sunday when its final four dreams, for a moment, remained in question.

SU returned to the exclusive final four club that's usually been customary for the Orange. But Syracuse is not finished restoring its level of prominence just yet.

"It'll probably sink in more later when we have more time to swish it around our mouths," Desko said. "We'll look back and see what happened. It's exciting to come back and it's a nice reward for how hard these guys have worked all year.