In the third quarter, the game was over. Syracuse trailed Virginia by four goals and couldn’t get on track, couldn’t find a rhythm. Shots sailed wide. Passes skipped out of bounds. Everything looked bleak. But the Orange rebounded, outscoring the Cavaliers by three goals in the fourth, leaving the team down one goal with one minute to play. Only a slew of turnovers and the inability to get off a final shot led No. 2 Syracuse to fall to No. 1 Virginia, 13-12, Friday night at the Carrier Dome in front of 16,595 fans. The attendance ranked the third-largest in Syracuse lacrosse history.

After Virginia made its third quarter surge, outscoring the Orange, 6-2, it looked like Syracuse would be blown out. Then, goalie John Galloway started to make good saves. But as he advanced the ball up the field, turnovers doomed Syracuse.

‘Regardless of what the number of turnovers was, we know it’s not acceptable for the way we play,’ Syracuse attack Kenny Nims said, ‘given that we still had a chance to win the game. This was an eye-opener for our team and we have to stay humble.’

With one minute to play, SU attack Tim Desko held the ball near his own goal, but dropped it as a UVA defender started to hack his stick. Time on the clock ticked away as Syracuse’s surge remained one goal short of tying the Cavaliers.

John Desko responded to Tim Desko’s turnover by calling a timeout with 50 seconds left. When play resumed, attack Chris Daniello could only manage a weak shot that sailed wide. Virginia gained possession and its attack held the ball, rejoicing as the clock timed out.

Syracuse-Virginia games historically teeter on an uncertain outcome until the final minute of play. Last year during the regular season, the Cavaliers topped the Orange, 14-13, in overtime, in a game that resembled Friday night’s contest.

Virginia’s Danny Glading and teammate Shamel Bratton, who scored seven total goals in the contest, said vengeance was in their minds from the 2008 NCAA semifinal game, when the Orange knocked off the Cavaliers and went on to win its 10th national championship two days later. During Friday’s game, the Virginia offense exploded away from Syracuse’s reach in the third quarter after a first half that both teams scored in droves. The Cavalier attack surged, scoring six goals, leaving Syracuse goalie John Galloway sprawled on the ground after a series of quick shots. ‘I think that we caught them off guard and started moving our bodies and the ball a lot smarter and more intent,’ Glading, said. ‘I was in a dream state.’ During halftime, Glading said the Cavaliers realized they ‘weren’t really playing good offense’ in the first half. The realization helped Virginia create an opportunity. Galloway stopped just two shots in the third quarter.

Glading scored the first and second goals in the series that started the Virginia run that ultimately cemented the Cavalier victory. At 12:26, Glading came around the goal to score, giving the Cavaliers the lead by one. Twenty seconds later Glading scored again, beating Syracuse defender John Lade and Galloway. ‘He is one of the best attack in the nation,’ Lade said of Glading. ‘I gave it all I had, but he got me a few times. He’s just probably the best there is, and I had to cover him.’ Glading scored three goals matched up against Lade, a transfer from Villanova. Desko said he liked a Lade-Glading matchup because of Lade’s speed. But Glading beat Lade three times. The help wasn’t there and it should have been,’ Desko said. ‘Glading is not a secret to our team.’ Galloway attributed nervousness and self-placed pressure on the third-quarter mishap that ultimately resulted in Syracuse’s loss. Galloway made 13 total saves, three more than Virginia’s goalie, Adam Ghitelman. ‘When our defense is down there the whole time we try not to go to the cage quickly and create turnovers, but it’s hard not to,’ Nims said. ‘Like coach said, even if we are down by a couple we need to give our defense a break and get the ball around to everyone involved.’ After Syracuse calmed down and refocused in the fourth quarter, Galloway made another three saves aiding Syracuse to outscore Virginia, 6-3. But still it wasn’t enough for the Orange to come out victorious.

‘I think we were a little impatient ourselves. All of the turnovers we had and all the experience we have really shouldn’t be happening in a game like this,’ Desko said. ‘They were more patient than we were. They made the most out of their opportunities.’

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on March 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm