Syracuse University
Virginia
Men's Lacrosse Loses Home Opener to Virginia, 16-15
3/1/2003 7:18:39 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Sophomore attackman John Christmas (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) broke a 15-15 tie with a low bounce shot from the left side which proved to be the game-winning goal with 22 seconds remaining as No. 4-ranked Virginia defeated defending men's lacrosse national champion Syracuse, 16-15, at the Carrier Dome. It was Virginia's first win against the Orangemen since 1999, when the Cavaliers posted a 12-10 victory in the NCAA finals.
Syracuse (1-1) led 4-3 after the first quarter. Midfielders Sean Lindsay (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Lakeland-Panas) and Pat Hogan (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit) quickly put the Orangemen out in front, 2-0. UVA senior midfielder A.J. Shannon (Whitby, Ontario, Canada/Henry Street) scored the first of his four goals at the 10:25 mark of the first quarter to put the Cavaliers on the scoreboard for the first time. Christmas, who also finished with four goals, tallied for the first time at the 9:19 mark and tied the game at 2-2. SU senior attackman Michael Springer (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) had a goal and two assists in the first quarter. He gave the Orangemen a 3-2 advantage at 8:08 and then assisted junior attackman Brian Nee (Cockeysville, Md./Boys' Latin) on a man-up goal at 6:37 for a 4-2 SU lead. Virginia sophomore attackman Joe Yevoli (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's) notched the first of his four goals with 5:46 remaining in the first quarter and Syracuse went into the second period with a 4-3 lead.
The two teams traded goals throughout the second quarter. Virginia senior midfielder Chris Rotelli (Rumford, R.I./Moses Brown) tied the game at 4-4 with a man-down goal at the 13:46 mark. SU senior middie Mike Smith (Greenport, N.Y./Baldwin) converted a pass from Michael Powell (Carthage, N.Y./Carthage) 38 seconds later, but UVA's Matt Ward (Oakton, Va./Landon) tied the game at 5-5 at 10:39. Springer and Yevoli each recorded goals for a 6-6 tie with 8:21 remaining in the second quarter. Lindsay netted his third man-up goal of the season with 4:57 left and Powell found Nee with 1:14 remaining as SU headed to the lockerroom with an 8-6 halftime lead.
The Orangemen led by as many as three goals (9-6) after Powell found Springer on an extra-man opportunity at 11:12 of the third quarter. That is when Virginia went on a 7-1 scoring run. Shannon ignited the UVA offense with back-to-back goals which pulled the Cavs within a goal (9-8) at the 9:24 mark. Ward tied the game 21 seconds later with a seven-yard shot that found the back of the net. Next, it was Christmas' turn to get into the action. He registered back-to-back goals which gave the Cavaliers an 11-9 lead with six minutes remaining in the period. Virginia would never trail again.
SU freshman midfielder Greg Rommel (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) broke the Orangemen's scoring drought with his first collegiate goal with 4:10 remaining in the third period. That pulled Syracuse within one goal (11-10), but Yevoli increased UVA's margin to three (13-10) with two goals in the final three minutes of the quarter. With one second remaining, Yevoli caught a length-of-the-field pass from defenseman Brett Hughes (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and safely deposited the ball past SU goaltender Jay Pfeifer (Towson, Md./Gilman).
The Orangemen battled back to within one goal at the start of the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Jarett Park (Otisco, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) stole the ball from a Virginia player at the top of the box and ran up the right side uncontested for SU's 11th goal of the game at 12:44. Less than a minute later, Smith recorded his second goal of the contest when he recovered a rebound in front of the Virginia crease. With 12:08 remaining in the final period, UVA led, 13-12. Shannon ripped a 12-yard shot on an extra-man situation to push Virginia's lead back up to two (14-12) with 10:26 left. Springer worked his man around the back of the cage and scored from the right side to keep it close (14-13) with 8:15 remaining.
Shannon found Ward for another two-goal Virginia lead (15-13) with 4:37 remaining. Syracuse freshman attackman/midfielder Brian Crockett (Yorktown, N.Y./Yorktown) netted his first goal of the game at the 3:42 mark. Springer tied the game at 15-15 with a bounce shot at the 1:41 mark. It was his fifth goal of the day.
Springer finished with a team-high seven points (five goals, two assists). It tied his career high for points in a game.
Pfeifer recorded 14 saves in 60 minutes of aciton. UVA goaltender Tillman Johnson (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) played the entire game and finished with 11 saves.
The attendance for the game was 10,536, the 10th-highest regular-season attendance figure in Carrier Dome lacrosse history.
Virginia improved to 2-0 on the season and will next be in action at Princeton on March 8.
Syracuse hosts Fairfield on Monday, March 10, at 7 p.m.
