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Swan Song
The achievements of the 2011 Orange were remarkable by any standard. A 15-2 overall record. The 29th NCAA quarterfinal appearance in team history and a second straight BIG EAST regular-season championship. However, the campaign will be remembered more as the swan song for one of the program’s most successful senior classes.The 2011 seniors arrived on campus in the fall of 2007 on the heels of the Orange’s first losing season in more than 30 years. By the time their careers ended, they were the winningest four-year class in school history (60-8), won two NCAA championships (2008 and 2009), two BIG EAST regular-season titles and re-established SU as the most dominant program in the nation. No small feat.
Behind the leadership of that group, SU was ranked No. 1 in the country for the majority of 2011. The Orange lost just once during the regular season (at home to Cornell) and earned the top seed in the NCAA playoffs. But hopes of a third national championship during their tenure were dashed when the Orange was beaten in overtime of the NCAA quarterfinals, 6-5, by Maryland.
Despite not reaching the Final Four, Syracuse was the most individually recognized college lacrosse team in the country. Senior long-stick middie Joel White and senior goalie John Galloway were selected as two of the five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award as national player of the year. In addition, Galloway received the USILA’s Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Award as the nation’s top goalie and BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year honors for the second year in row. Classmate John Lade also was recognized as the best player at his position, winning the USILA’s William C. Schmeisser Award as the country’s most outstanding defenseman. White, Galloway and Lade all received first-team All-America and All-BIG EAST honors for the second consecutive year, and Syracuse tied Maryland for the most All-Americans (8) of any school.
BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year Stephen Keogh led Syracuse with 33 goals and tied JoJo Marasco for the team points lead with 41.
Defensively, the Orange ranked in the top five nationally in scoring defense for the third year in a row (6.94 goals allowed per game). Syracuse also led the NCAA and set a school record for man-down defense efficiency (.817).
THE REGULAR SEASON
For the second straight year, Syracuse opened the season at home against the Denver Pioneers. Marasco, making his first career start, and Keogh each had two goals and two assists to lead the Orange to a 13-7 win. The victory set the stage for one of the most anticipated games of the year, the annual clash with Army.
Each season the Black Knights visit the Carrier Dome, but the 2011 pairing had a bit more significance to it because of Army’s stunning upset of the Orange in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Syracuse did its best to eliminate the possibility of another upset by jumping out to a 7-0 lead. However, the Black Knights rallied furiously in the second half and pulled within one, 10-9, before a goal by SU’s Jeremy Thompson with 1:06 to play secured an 11-9 Orange victory.
Having won its first two games, Syracuse was perched atop the national polls. However, Virginia, SU’s next opponent, joined the Orange as co-No. 1's in the coaches’ rankings to set up the first one-versus-one regular-season matchup in the history of the USILA poll. Always one of the most anticipated college lacrosse game’s of the year, Syracuse and Virginia sharing the top ranking only added to the build up. A crowd of 14,340 was on hand and they were treated to a 12-10 SU win.
The game was a coming out party for attackman Tim Desko, who fueled the Orange offense with a career-high five goals, including three in the second half. SU also got an impressive second-half effort from its defense. The Orange allowed just two goals in the game’s final 30 minutes against the high-flying Cavaliers to clinch the team’s first regular-season win over Virginia since 2004.
The following week, Syracuse opened BIG EAST play against Georgetown on March 12 at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in Baltimore. The Hoyas gave the Orange all it could handle, but Keogh was the hero, scoring his fourth goal of the day with 2:19 left in overtime to lift SU to a 9-8 victory.
Three days later, the Orange extended its winning streak to five with an 18-13 home win against Albany. Syracuse received points from 13 players and boasted 11 different scorers in the contest, including Tommy Palasek who had a breakout game with four goals and one assist.
Next up for the Orange was archrival Johns Hopkins. Like Georgetown, the Blue Jays pushed Syracuse to the brink, but for the second time in the span of a week Keogh was the hero. Fifteen seconds into the second overtime, Keogh tallied his third goal of the night to give the Orange a 5-4 victory. The game was a harbinger of things to come as Syracuse found itself in several close, low-scoring affairs during the course of the year.
High drama was again the order of the day in SU’s next outing on March 26 at Villanova. This time it was Marasco who secured a 5-4 win, scoring with six seconds to go in regulation to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season.
Road wins against Duke (13-11) at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic and Princeton (7-5) followed. With the victories, Syracuse ran its record to 9-0, the best start for the Orange since its undefeated 1990 national championship season. The Duke victory in particular was noteworthy as Galloway recorded his 52nd career win to become the NCAA’s winningest Division I goaltender, ecliping the previous record held by Princeton’s Scott Bacigalupo.
After dispatching Princeton, Syracuse returned home on April 12 to face Central New York rival Cornell at the Carrier Dome. Senior midfielder Josh Amidon tied his career high with five points, but it wasn’t enough as the Big Red dealt the Orange its first loss of the season, 11-6.
The defeat didn’t keep the Orange down long. Syracuse responded with victories against Providence (13-3) on April 16 at the New England Lacrosse Classic, Hobart (13-7) at the Carrier Dome and Rutgers (12-2) at the ESPNU Warrior Classic in East Hartford, Conn. Defense sparked the resurgence as the Orange held Providence and Rutgers scoreless for more than 50 consecutive minutes in both of those respective triumphs.
With the three wins, SU improved to 12-1 on the year and 4-0 in BIG EAST play. The victories also set up a home showdown with undefeated and top-ranked Notre Dame for BIG EAST and national supremacy.
In front of another crowd of 14,000-plus and a national television audience on ESPNU, the Orange overcame an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the Irish, 11-8, and secure at least a share of the BIG EAST regular-season championship. Keogh was the Orange catalyst, notching a game-high four goals. The victory was the 58th for Keogh and the rest of the Orange seniors, making them the winningest class in program history.
Following the Notre Dame victory, Syracuse regained the No. 1 spot in the national rankings, which it carried into its regular-season finale versus St. John’s on May 7. Right away the Orange proved to be too much for the Red Storm to handle. Fifteen different players scored at least one goal in a 20-6 triumph that clinched the team’s second straight BIG EAST regular-season title and raised the Orange’s record to 12-0 all-time in conference games.
THE POSTSEASON
With a record of 14-1, Syracuse earned the top seed in the NCAA playoffs for the eighth time in its history. The Orange’s first-round opponent was a familiar one – MAAC champion Siena. Two years earlier, the Orange had beaten the Saints in the tournament’s opening round on its way to the NCAA championship. The outcome was the same this time around as Palasek and Lade led the Orange to a 10-4 victory. Palasek tallied five points, including a career-high four assists. He had a hand in all four of SU’s first-half goals, scoring twice and passing out assists on goals by Amidon and Bobby Eilers.
Defensively, Lade held MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Bryan Neufeld without a point for the first time in his career, ending Neufeld’s 52-game point streak.
With the victory, the Orange advanced to play Maryland at Gillette Stadium in the quarterfinal round. Like Siena, SU also faced Maryland in 2009 during its run to the national title. The Orange had also faced the Terps in a 2011 preseason scrimmage.
At the outset Maryland’s game plan was clear: slow down the pace of play. The Terps used a zone defense to force the Orange to hold the ball for long stretches. Offensively, Maryland was continuously warned for stalling by the referees.
The strategy paid dividends as neither team scored for more than 10 minutes to start the game. Finally, Thompson broke the ice with 3:03 left in the first quarter to give SU a 1-0 lead. Senior Jovan Miller extended the Orange advantage to 2-0 in the second quarter, but Maryland got two goals later in the period to tie the game at the half.
In the third quarter, Maryland took the lead for the first time, and the Terps carried a 5-3 advantage into the final period. Thompson brought SU within one on a goal with 10:53 to play, and Miller sent the game into OT with an unassisted tally with just over a minute left.
The Terps won the opening faceoff in overtime, and after a shot by Drew Snider, SU senior Thomas Guadagnolo checked the ball loose from Jake Bernhardt. Kevin Drew collected the ground ball for Syracuse and raced into the attack box on a fastbreak. Drew let a shot go wide and Maryland backed it up to regain possession. After a successful clear, Ryan Young found Grant Catalino alone on the wing and he rifled a shot past Galloway for the winner.
Catalino’s goal was the sudden end to a promising season and one of the most successful four-year runs in the history of college lacrosse. His tally also stopped SU’s string of 25 consecutive NCAA quarterfinal victories.
Despite how their careers ended, the 2011 Orange seniors will be remembered for their roles in helping rebuild a dynasty. From the moment they stepped foot on campus in 2007 as freshmen they were integral to the team’s success. Galloway and White started for four seasons. Keogh, Miller and Amidon each played as rookies and blossomed as upperclassmen. Guys like Lade and Thompson immediately stepped into starting roles as transfers.
What that group was able to do in their time at Syracuse was indeed no small feat.
