Syracuse tops m. lax in final-game thriller

PISCATAWAY — All good things eventually come to an end.

This year, the men's lacrosse team lost its first Ivy game since 1995. No Tigers were named first team All-America — the last time that happened was 1991. After a 2-4 start, Princeton (10-5 overall, 5-1 Ivy) bounced back to win eight straight, only to have that streak ended in the final game of the year. That same loss snapped Princeton's 12-game winning streak in NCAA tournament matchups decided by one goal.

But the streaks didn't matter — the stakes mattered. On Memorial Day, second-seeded Syracuse (15-2) beat defending national champion Princeton 13-12 for the NCAA title in front of 19,706 at Rutgers Stadium. It was the Orangemen's seventh national crown and second in three years. Syracuse beat the Tigers for both of those titles, while in 2001, Princeton knocked off the Orangemen for the trophy.

Although Princeton and Syracuse did not look like the best teams during the regular season, once the tournament rolled around, lacrosse's titans asserted their dominance. The Tigers eased by top-seeded Johns Hopkins, 12-10, in the semifinals, while the Orangemen needed a late rally and overtime to beat No. 3 Virginia.

Syracuse's Michael Powell, voted the tourney's best player, scored the decisive goal against Princeton three minutes, 25 seconds into the fourth quarter. The attackman's tally gave his team a 13-11 lead.

The Tigers controlled the ensuing draw, and midfielder Brad Dumont '03 netted his second goal 13 seconds after Powell's score. Dumont drove to his left, drawing Syracuse goalie Jay Pfeifer that way, and then shot across his body to score.

The final 11 minutes and change were marked by frantic action but no goals. Princeton controlled the ball in Syracuse's end for much of the final period but could not beat Pfeifer, a freshman named to the All-Tournament team. The Tigers' final chance came with six seconds left after a penalty on Syracuse, but they could not get a shot off.

On the other end of the field, netminder Julian Gould '03 made some big saves down the stretch — the sort that he failed to make earlier in the game. Gould and the rest of the Tiger defense, including second team All-American Damien Davis '03, held the Orangemen to one goal in the last quarter and a half of play. But the Tigers could not score enough, as they had dug themselves a five-goal hole by the third quarter. Princeton's valiant rally, marked by goals from attackmen Sean Hartofilis '03 and B.J. Prager '02, fell just short.

"I thought we showed so much heart to come back from 12-7 and make it a ball game," head coach Bill Tierney said. "I couldn't be prouder of our guys."

Tierney should know. The legendary Princeton skipper has won as many national championships — six since 1992 — as every other active lacrosse coach combined.

His team's greatest achievement of the year might have been just making the NCAA tournament. After a 2-4 start, including a loss to usually-pathetic Yale, the Tigers had to win every Ivy game to garner the league's automatic bid to the national tourney, as it seemed an at-large bid was out of the question. Princeton showed its mettle with wins over then-high flying Cornell and Brown. Tierney's bunch also impressed the national selection committee with a triple-overtime win over Duke.