Syracuse University
NCAA First Round at #8 Massachusetts
Men's Lacrosse Loses 16-15 Decision to UMass in NCAA First Round
5/15/2005 3:55:33 PM | Men's Lacrosse
AMHERST, MASS. -- Syracuse came back from a four-goal deficit in the third quarter and tied the score at 15-15 off a Brett Bucktooth goal with 3:06 remaining in the contest, but No. 8-seeded UMass held on for a 16-15 victory in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament at Garber Field. The Orange, appearing in its 26th NCAA postseason event (23rd consecutive), was ousted in the first round for the first time since 1981. Syracuse's unparalleled streak of NCAA semifinal appearances ends at 22 years.
"We didn't think too much about it (the streak)," said Syracuse head coach John Desko after the game. "We were thinking about what it was going to take to beat UMass. They're a terrific team. We were going on the road to play them. Now, after the game, we haven't had too much time yet for it to settle in. It's disappointing, but to go there 22 years in a row and to be part of it all those 22 years is certainly special. I come out of a game like this with even more of an appreciation of the past, the tradition and the wins. It will be a little weird this Memorial Day weekend not having the uniform on and walking out onto a field, but now we'll do what some of the other coaches have been doing. We'll get out and do some early recruiting and try to take advantage of that. I plan on going to the championships and enjoying those games."
Jeff Zywicki scored the first of his game-high six goals just two minutes into the contest for UMass. The Minutemen would never trail in the game. They built a 7-4 lead by halftime and then took a four-goal lead (9-5) at the 11-minute mark of the third quarter after a Sean Morris goal. Everytime Syracuse looked to close the gap, UMass answered with a goal. The Orange closed to within two goals six times in the second half, and each time the Minutemen found a way to bump it back to a three-goal spread.
Junior attackman Brian Crockett tallied three of his four goals in the third quarter. Bucktooth also had four goals for the game. A good sign for future Orange teams was the play of freshmen Greg Niewieroski and Mike Leveille down the stretch. Niewieroski stuck a goal to pull SU to within two goals (13-11) with 1:03 remaining in the third quarter. Leveille had two goals and an assist in the fourth quarter. He notched back-to-back goals at the 10:49 and 9:01 marks to pull Syracuse to within one goal (14-13).
Zywicki, who netted the game-winning goal against SU in overtime back on April 30, registered his sixth goal of the game off a man-up opportunity with 6:03 remaining. That score gave UMass a 15-13 lead, but junior midfielder Greg Rommel responded with Syracuse's 14th score of the afternoon. It was Rommel's third goal of the game.
Then came Bucktooth's game-tying goal from 15 yards out. Leveille found him up top on the left side and with 3:06 remaining, it looked like Syracuse might have a chance to win it at the end.
UMass's leading point-scorer this year, Sean Morris, ended up with the game-winning goal with 1:12 remaining. The Minutemen won the last faceoff of the game and then called timeout with 42.4 seconds remaining. Coach Cannella called for the ball to be in speedy Brian Jacovina's stick at the end. UMass took another timeout with 25.3 seconds on the clock and gave the ball back to Jacovina who ran around as the seconds ticked away and the Syracuse defense tried to check the ball free or force UMass out of the box. Neither happened and Zywicki wound up with the ball. As time expired, he threw it up into the air.
Cannella started sophomore Efosa Guobodia in the goal for the injured Bill Schell. Guobodia, who played the game's first 56 minutes, stopped eight Syracuse shots in the first half. He made just one save in the third quarter, before giving way to Schell with 4:06 remaining in the contest. Schell allowed Bucktooth's game-tying goal, but made a play on an Orange man-up attempt with approximately 2:40 to play.
Syracuse goaltender Jay Pfeifer finished with seven saves. He ended his four-year career ranked second on the school's all-time saves list (725 saves) and tied for first with Matt Palumb with 146 career playoff saves. Pfeifer also made his mark nationally, by playing in more games (63) and logging more minutes (3586) than any other Division I goalie in NCAA history.
The 2005 Syracuse senior class appeared in three NCAA final fours and won two national championships (in 2002 and 2004).
The Orange concluded its 2005 season with a 7-6 record. UMass advances to play No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins (13-0) in the NCAA quarterfinals on Saturday, May 21 in Baltimore.
Massachusetts 16, Syracuse 15
Syracuse 2-2-7-4=15
UMass 4-3-6-3=16
Syracuse Goals: Crockett 4, Bucktooth 4, Rommel 3, Leveille 2, Brooks 1, Niewieroski 1.
Syracuse Assists: Brooks 3, Leveille 2, Niewieroski 2, Ditzell 1.
Massachusetts Goals: Zywicki 6, Morris 3, Garber 2, Jacovina 1, Tundo 1, Doyle 1, Connolly 1, Recchione 1.
Massachusetts Assists: Morris 3, Deane 1, Jacovina 1, Tundo 1, Zywicki 1.
Shots: Massachusetts 50, Syracuse 46
Groundballs: Syracuse 31, Massachusetts 30
Faceoffs: Syracuse 20-35 (Brennan 16-28, Keough 4-7), Massachusetts 15-35 (Collins 12-28, Deane 3-7)
Clears: Syracuse 13-16, Massachusetts 14-18
Extra-Man: Syracuse 1-5, Massachusetts 1-4
Saves: Syracuse 7 (Jay Pfeifer), Massachusetts 11 (Guobodia 9, Schell 2)
Attendance: 4,038
