Things looked pretty bleak for the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team late in the fourth quarter of today’s NCAA Division I championship game.
Cornell had taken its biggest lead at three goals with 5:31 remaining and were controlling the pace, running a patient, ball-control offense.
But the Orange battled back and scored the last four goals of the game to pick up a miraculous 10-9 overtime win for their second straight title at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Its Syracuses record 11th national title.
For a slide show of the game, click here
Cody Jamieson scored just outside the crease off a feed from Dan Hardy with 2:46 left in the first overtime period. The goal marked the first time SU led the in the game.
With a chance to run the clock and preserve the win, Cornell, leading 9-8 in the closing seconds, was unable to clear.
Syracuse then got it back and Kenny Nims tied it in stunning fashion on a goal with four seconds remaining after the ball deflected off Cornell defender Roy Lang. It was the first point of the game for Nims, a senior attackman and the nations leading scorer.
A goal by Lang with 5:31 to go gave Cornell a 9-6 lead.
The Big Red, who had won 39 straight games when leading entering the fourth quarter prior to today.
John Jay grad Chris Daniello scored the Orange’s first goal for the second straight game. The junior attackman’s goal, with 5:46 left in the first quarter, cut Cornell’s lead to 2-1. It marked the first time a former John Jay player ever scored a goal in a Division I national championship game.
The Big Red, looking for its first national title since 1977 and fourth overall. led 3-2 after the first quarter, 6-4 at halftime and 7-5 after three quarters.
For a rundown of all the scoring from the game, click here.
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Posted In: NCAA championships
Great game. One of the best finals ever. Joe nice pick going with the Cuse to win in OT.
It’s a beautiful day in the orange neighborhood!
‘CUSE
Interesting footnote on the win today, folks.
Chris Daniello’s goal which brought Syracuse to within 2-1 in the first quarter marked the first time a former John Jay player ever scored a goal in a Division I national championship game, according to John Jay coach Nick Savastano.
The Indians have four alumni who were on title-winning teams this weekend, Daniello and Kevin Drew (Syracuse) and Justin Schneidman and Tyler Granelli (Cortland State/Division III).
The next highest total for teams from the region is Lakeland/Panas, with three: Bryan Leonard, Dan DaCosta and Keith Rodriguez (C.W. Post/Division II). Actually, it’s four if you include former Lakeland coach Frank Vitolo, who is an assistant at C.W. Post under John Jez.
Speaking of coaches, excellent job by the Cornell staff today controlling tempo for 57 minutes today vs. Syracuse. Former Mahopac star Kyle Georgalas is an assistant at Cornell. One of the areas he is responsible for is faceoffs, and John Glynn was outstanding in that department all season and today.
Yeah CD. That’s awesome. Gotta love the pic of you and Shaq on ESPN haha.
Number of Former JJ players with national titles: 4
Number of Former Town players: 0
Number of Town fans in denial: THOUSANDS.
Congrats Orange. Congrats K-Drew and Chris! Great coverage of an amazing weekend of games Joe.
Both Kevin and Chris impressed me. I saw Kevin play every time cuse was on defense and had a number of one-man clears, may have been the fastest on the field, nearly even had a goal. Chris had a sweet goal and an awesome picture with Shaq. Perhaps the best 4th quarter I’ve ever seen, congrats cuse. PurpleReigns you gotta stop with that you’re just making JJ fans look bad.
Lax,
Yeah, great for these Jay players and all other Section 1 players who played on D1-3 teams that were in the playoffs.
PurpleReigns,
After watching that game, your first thought was how many players Jay had in the championships vs. Yorktown? That’s kind of sad. I was rooting hard for Drew and Daniello, and am as big a Jay fan as there is, but a little perspective wouldn’t kill you. Heck, the reason I’m a Syracuse fan is because of the Nelsons.
And what a game. I had already counted the Orange out at 9-6, but my son kept saying “they’re going to win this dad”. And kept saying it. When they turned the ball over with 27 seconds left, he said “they’ve still got time”. And, what do you know, the little bugger was right. The term “unbelievable gets thrown around a lot in sports, but that tying goal truly was. Had to feel for the Cornell kids after that, just caught a bad break.
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Doid the first thing I thought of like I said was Chris and K-Drew winning a national title.
Just bc I mentioned Yorktown having zero players in final four doesn’t mean I thought of it then. I didn’t. But we were talking about it yesterday and all, so …
Be sure to check out a slide show of today’s Syracuse-Cornell game put together by our friends at WCBS-TV.
Here’s the link:
http://wcbstv.com/slideshows/syracuse.university.cornell.20.1018975.html
purple reigns is obsessed with yorktown…i heard your asking the entire town to prom….every time u look at a jj student cheering do u automatically say, hey they are better then the crop…cause it seems like you would
national championships are great, congrats to drew daniello schneiderman and granelli, no matter d1 or d3 its pretty cool to say your a national champ. Thats awesome, but thats comprised of many players from different states…to settle any arguements about the john jay team and players, u should talk about the high school team john jay itself..so how many state championships have they won
survey says!….
speaking of denial
With posession, under 30 seconds to go, up by one, Cornell decides not to reverse the ball across the field on the clear, as they successfully did all day, but to try to take it one on one toward the middle.
Big Red played good game for 56 mins but ran out of gas. Ironic that Ivy League team loses in OT goal by academically ineligible Community College tansfer.
purplerain please stop acting like fool, as a john jay alum I’m ashamed people like u have to start trouble and make us look very classless and trasher . It was an awesome day for Cuse and to insult town in this post takes away from the game. FYI if you didn’t notice the number 7 on the players helmets today for Cuse were in honor of Brian Crockett a former standout at Yorktown and Cuse who passed this year. just because they are no current players playing this weekend it doesn’t take anything away from yorktown as a program or from there many current and past players. Grow up and stop embarrassing the people who wore the indian jersey
Well said JFan. Drew probably was the fastest on the field.
As another alumnus of JJ lacrosse I would just like to say…AMEN JFan, AMEN!
great game….I do think ‘cuse wins it easy of they had rode hard all game, but not sure they had the lags for it…’nell coach needed a time out at the end when they were about to clear…
Abbot gets the tewarrton if you ask me, all the subtle little plays that make teams win
Bear –
I was also surprised Syracuse didn’t ride more. The Orange basically allowed Cornell to run their patient, ball-control offense and control tempo.
As I noted yesterday though, credit the Cornell coaching staff, including assistant Kyle Georgalas of Mahopac, for doing a masterful job scouting and coming up with a great game plan.
Also, as we noted yesterday, but in case anyone missed it, I want to repeat it because it was a very significant accomplishment. Chris Daniello became the first player in JJ history to score a goal in a D-I championship game yesterday. He also holds the distinction of scoring Syracuse’s first goals of the game in both the semis and finals and the first goal by any player in this year’s final four.
Old Rugger –
Good point about Kevin Drew. I’d like to see him and Matt Abbott in a foot race. Would be pretty interesting.
Teewaraton is definitely wide open. I think if Cornell had won Seibald would have been the choice.
Our Top 25 regional rankings just went live at high noon. Let’s hear what you think.
And in case you missed it, we’ve asked you for your thoughts on the best players by position in the region the last few weeks. We wrap that up now with best defenseman. Be sure to weigh in.
Also, I was asked if we would be publishing the results of our previous polls on this topic. Once we complete defense, we will do that for each position. So stay tuned, and for now, be sure to exercise your right to vote.
Joe thanks for the note about Kyle Georgalas. Well said. We are very proud of him in Mahopac.
j-lo,
I’m not sure if you caught it, but Quint K. actually mentioned the Abbott vs Drew foot race during the ESPN broadcast. He referenced their speed in a question he asked Abbott about who the team’s fastest player was. Abbott’s answer: Kevin Drew has me by a step. Pretty impressive considering lots of people considered Abbott the fastest player in the nation last season.
Wasabi – I’m sorry I missed that.
What made me think of that point was the fact there were several times in which Abbott was clearing when I looked up quickly and thought it was actually Drew.
With the increased emphasis on athleticism and speed in the game, I imagine in 3-4 years down the road in the final four, there will be 5-6 guys like that on each team rather than one or two.
difference is Abbott is not just fast…incredible over the shoulder no look pass to tie and that shovel pass in the semi’s…he is pefectly happpy to watch all the ‘cuse scorers do their thing until he is needed…
here’s another question for you…given the much of the ‘cuse attack comes back next year…do they move Jo Jo to middie full time to get him on the field? Drew and Jo Jo together probably makes any idea of a convential ride obsolete
Watching the game I really thought Cornell was going to do it and I kept thinking of the Red Sox circa 2004. I mean that team had to go through hell to finally exorcise the demons. It took a historic effort to end the talk of 1918.
When Syracuse came back to tie I just said to myself that Cornell would find a way to end the 32-year drought and I was actually resigned to the fact that they would get it done and I would accept it on the spot because I just pictured the giant celebration on the hill leading to Schoelkropf field.
But this ‘Cuse team seemed to understand the urgency that was in the air and, let’s face it, they got a huge break when that ball inexplicably bounced out of the pole’s pocket and right into Nims’ stick near the crease.
As for the game itself, I applaud ‘Cuse for not getting frustrated by the 2-to-1 time of possession. Cornell played as close to a perfect game as a team can for 54 minutes.
But there’s a reason ‘Cuse always seems to get it done in big spots. The Orange have an intangible in their makeup that permits them to make big plays at the absolutely perfect moment.
I think the best part about this is it was an all N.Y, final and that the vast majority of the kids on both teams are from New York. After watching UVa last week I was convinced that the Cavaliers were going to wax Cuse or Duke in the final, but when you get to this level where coaching and intangibles are seemingly more important than skills one never knows.
Lastly, Abbott should consider a career as an ironman triathelete because I’ve never seen wheels and stamina like that.
He’s a specimen of the highest order, a gift from the sports gods.
‘cuse:
mighta also be due to the fact that the Orange had better athletes at every postion, with the possible exception of Seybold
Cuse,
Yeah just got finished rubbing it in to a relative who lives in Balt just how “New Yorkish” the syracuse and cornell teams are!
Feel a bit for Cornell coach who had a GREAT game plan but seems to have lost it at the very end with the wrong guys touching the ball and no time out called.
I seriously feel bad for Cornell. To come that close … God.
Hopefully Tambroni has some pieces to work with in 2010. You know ‘Cuse will.
BigBadBear, Cuse
It was stated a number of times when broadcasters were focusing on Drew that he had to work on his stick skills–his speed is legend. Waht do you think of the “stick skills” comment and how does that leave him on a loaded squad??
slacrosse:
clearly being groomed to take over for Abbott, I think there will be no issue…they are well coached, they all know their roles, I am sure that next year we will see Drew taking it to the cage on transition a lot…he did get a shot off yesterday, but it was lefty, not much on it…
For sure Drew was/is a scary sight at full speed in transition!!
Just like in Hoops, you can’t teach height – in Lax, you can’t teach speed and Drew has plenty.
Not very impressed in Finals with either Abbott (or Nims). Cuse is just deeper than Cornell and Red attack only had a frosh (Pannell) who could be counted on not to lose the ball behind the cage. He will set a bunch of records before he is done. Key plays at end of game were the strips by Cuse D-men during Q4 run.
Red had to score from up top, which they did (Glynn, Seibald, Romero), but also had to play mistake free and made a crucial one on the clear at the end of the game.
Cornell does not have a team fully loaded with HS AAs (like UVA, Cuse and Duke), so they play a team game. While the play was exciting, the pace almost suggested the need for a shot clock.
Either way, great weekend for New York Lax including CW Post and Cortlandt.
The announcers themselves said that Drew was the fastest on the team – a gazelle, and is the next Abbott if he improves his stick skills. He also had time covering Glynn and Romero I believe. Daniello played the entire 1st quarter but now that Jameison transferred he splits time with him, cuse got a good one with Cody.
And really, I was not expecting that ending to regulation. I basically gave up on cuse, applauding Cornell for the win, and then what do you know 3 straight goals. I was rooting for Cuse but I must admit they got a really lucky break at the end of regulation, incredible. Feel sorry for the Cornell kids, they were getting ready to celebrate at the end! But they showed a lot of class in that loss.
The improvement for Drew will need to be as Bear points out his left side. In high school that was a comment by some who scouted him, with his speed in HS he was able to deal with it. Needs more time working on it. He has all the needed atributes, Speed, Size and Smarts just needs the time to make the left side just like the right side.
Real tough break for Cornell. They got the better of play for 55 minutes and deserved to win. I was very impressed with their talent and disciplined gameplan. Tying goal was a bit of a fluke with the deflection and they deserved better. Still a great game and hope both teams get back there next year. Drew is a gazelle alright…also has the stick skills of one as evidenced by the shot. Needs to work on those a bunch in the off season.
I think Drew will help SU in any capacity they choose to use him. He’s probably better suited as a do-it-all type of guy between the boxes than he is running on any line. Man-down, riding, clears … he could be oh so valuable to any team. The wheels are everything.
Congrats to the Syracuse players for winning a hell of a game. My heart goes out to the Cornell players for a loss that shouldn’t have been.
Unbelievable job by the Cornell coaching staff for and 59:33. Unbelievably horrible job by them with 27 seconds to go, is no one going to touch on that or is the subject taboo? I agree with starting the ball quick off the endline, so as not to allow Syracuse to set up a ride and to kill some time off the clock, but the SECOND that someone gets in trouble on your team, use your last timeout! I could not believe my eyes as I was screaming at the TV, willing coach Tambroni to call for it when the Syracuse Attackmen got in the defensemens hands!
There would have been less than 20 seconds left in the game if the timeout had been called, they could have played keep away using the ‘fastest guy in the Cornell athletic department’ for that time, cheaped it, done something, but give your kids a chance!
I know I’m not the only person who noticed that, so why are we taking it easy on this guy?
Unfortunately for Tambroni, I’m sure he realized it after the fact and it will haunt him forever.
SWLAX:
I noticed, see my comment above…#17….really don’t think you can blame him too much, without his game plan, they get wiped out much earlier in the NCAA’s..and more importantly, he got his kids to believe….
BBB:
If I had to bet, I’m pretty sure he blames himself, and rightfully so, and will be second guessing the fact that a timely timeout would have won both he and his team a National Championship…
He created an excellent game plan, no doubt about it, but when you freeze on the fly like that, at a time when your team needs you to be the sharpest on your feet as a head coach, there is no excuse or past accomplishment that can justify your blunder. If he calls that time out and wins the game, his game plan and coaching was superb and I would be praising him instead of throwing him under the bus, but c’est la vie my friend.
well, I am sure he does blame himself, and I agree, you can’t freeze at that minute..BUT…suppose he rests some of his players earlier, particularly his FO guy, who dominated early, but then lost four critical FO’s in a row…and the tying goal, look at all the things that went right for ‘Cuse at that point, not the least of which is one if his poles missing the final pass by inches..finally, he hasn’t been there before, Desko has..
as I said before, ‘Cuse has the better athletes at every postion, and a much deeper bench, they were supposed to win..
One last thing…if they get there next year, bet he doesn’t make that mistake again
SWLAX: Agree with your #39. GREAT coach, game plan for 59:33 but then INEXPLICABLY, in the heat of the moment, he blows it.
BBB: He wont do that again and probably hasn’t done anything like this in the past!!