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Syracuse University
#8 Massachusetts
Second-Ranked Men's Lacrosse Defeats NCAA-Bound Massachusetts, 18-10
4/26/2002 10:48:46 PM | Men's Lacrosse
The No. 2-ranked Syracuse men's lacrosse team held Massachusetts scoreless for nearly 20 minutes in the first half and got 21 points from its top four attackmen on its way to an 18-10 victory at the Carrier Dome. The Orangemen are now 4-0 at home this season and a combined 16-1 at home during the past three seasons. Massachusetts, who has already earned an automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament, is now 10-3 on the year.
Sophomore Michael Powell (Carthage, N.Y.) was the game's high scorer with seven points (three goals, four assists). It was his fourth-straight game with at least six points. He has totalled 12 goals and 14 assists in SU's last four games. Senior Josh Coffman (Carthage, N.Y.) moved into 15th place on both the Syracuse all-time scoring list (178 career points) and the school's all-time goals list (108 career goals). He finished with four goals and two assists against the Minutemen, his eighth game this season with at least three goals.
Also having high-scoring nights were junior Michael Springer (Ridgewood, N.J.) and sophomore Brian Nee (Cockeysville, Md.). Springer registered three goals and two assists to move into 20th place on the school's all-time scoring list (157 career points). Nee tallied his fifth hat trick of the season.
But the game was not won solely because the offense had a good night. Many of SU's scoring opportunities came from stellar defensive plays. Overall, the Orangemen forced Massachusetts into 11 failed clears and held the Minutemen scoreless from the 8:36 mark of the first quarter until the 3:58 mark of the second quarter. Senior defensemen Billy St. George (Baldwin, N.Y.) and John Glatzel (Ellicott City, Md.) dogged the UMass attackers early and often and came away with a couple of takeaways from over the top. During that stretch, SU rattled off eight unanswered goals and captured a commanding 10-2 lead.
Massachusetts, the No. 8-ranked team in the country, recorded three-straight goals to close out the second quarter and pulled within 10-5 at halftime. Kevin Leveille notched three goals in the first half for UMass.
The Orangemen kept the pressure on in the third quarter and cashed in on two Massachusetts penalties early on. Powell and Nee registered the extra-man goals, while senior Tom Hardy (Tully, N.Y.) added an unassisted goal at the 8:57 mark to give SU a 13-5 lead.
Syracuse opened up its largest margin of the contest (18-6) after senior Spencer Wright (San Diego, Calif.) spotted Nee for a wide-open look on an extra-man play with 7:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. UMass registered the final four goals of the game, the last three of which were scored by Marc Morley.
Jay Pfeifer (Towson, Md.) allowed just six goals in more than 53 minutes of action and finished with 14 saves for the Orangemen. Bill Schell stopped 13 shots for UMass.
The Orangemen play their final regular-season contest at home against No. 5-ranked Georgetown on Saturday, May 4, at 2 p.m.
Syracuse 18, Massachusetts 10
Score by quarters:
SU 5-5-4-4=18
UMass 2-3-1-4=10
Syracuse Goals: Coffman 4, Powell 3, Springer 3, Nee 3, Vallone 2, Wright 1, Solliday 1, Hardy 1.
Syracuse Assists: Powell 4, Coffman 2, Springer 2, Wright 2, Smith 1, Park 1.
UMass Goals: Leveille 3, Morley 3, Little 2, Fiore 1, Lundberg 1.
UMass Assists: Fiore 2, Little 1, Conn 1, Tundo 1, Paccione 1, Zywicki 1, McFarland 1.
Shots: UMass 44, SU 40
Groundballs: UMass 39, SU 36
Faceoffs: SU 19, UMass 13
Clears: SU 22/26, UMass 22/33
Penalties: SU 11/9:00, UMass 11/9:30
Extra-Man: SU 6-8, UMass 3-9
Attendance: 5,939
