If Albany head coach Scott Marr had his way, the game wouldn’t have ended. That Albany goal with a little more than two minutes left in the fourth quarter would’ve counted and, of course, the Great Danes would’ve found a way to win.

Albany sophomore Merrick Thomson thought the ball crossed the line, too. After a pileup in front of Syracuse goalie Jay Pfeifer, Chris Martocchia’s shot was cleared to Albany’s defensive end for the game-winning goal by SU freshman Mike Leveille.

In the end No. 7 SU won by only a goal. After handily defeating the No. 13 Great Danes by an average of nine goals in its first two matchups last season, SU beat Albany, 14-13, Friday in the Carrier Dome in front of 4,488.

‘It should be overtime,’ Marr said after the game. ‘I think Chris’ goal was a goal.

‘We felt we could’ve won, but there’s some satisfaction in the fact we can play them to the end.’

The Great Danes certainly improved since losing to the Orange, 21-13, in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament, but the Orange (7-4) wasn’t pleased it couldn’t put Albany (8-4) away earlier.

‘I think we prefer to be up by five or six,’ SU junior Brian Crockett said. ‘I think we can play better than we did, but they have some good scorers.’

With 3:45 remaining in the third quarter, it seemed SU got the spark it needed to unravel the Danes’ defense. Jarett Park gained possession of the ball in SU’s defensive end and tried to outrun Albany’s midfielders up the sideline, as he so often can. Tiptoeing down the sideline he slipped past one, then another charged at him from an angle at SU’s 40-yard line.

Instead of dumping it off, Park did his impression of former SU star Jim Brown – the football version, that is. Park dipped his left shoulder and popped his defender to the turf, getting Orange fans to their feet.

After trailing 9-8 to the Danes, midfielder Greg Rommel rocketed a shot into the top right corner on the ensuing possession to tie the game. A minute later, Crockett underhanded his fifth goal past Albany goalie, Kevin Rae, to take a 10-9 lead.

‘I wish we had the ball and just closed out (the win),’ Park said. ‘I enjoy those intense situations, but we prefer not to be in those situations.’

In the fourth quarter, SU never managed to gain more than a two-goal advantage. Leveille’s goal with 2:05 remaining in the game, which came as a result of an Albany defensive mistake, proved to be the game winner.

As Rae came out to play the ball at the 20-yard line, Leveille grabbed the ball and unloaded it into the empty net for his second score.

‘It was really just a lucky bounce,’ Leveille said. ‘And I just gotta put it in with a long-pole defender in net.’

The Orange, now 3-0 all-time versus Albany, all but guaranteed itself an NCAA berth with the win. Albany, in its fifth year in Division I, will look for its third straight tournament berth.

‘We came in here and we fought our rear ends off,’ Marr said. ‘I hope we play someone else (in the NCAA tournament). I’m tired of playing here.’

Published on April 24, 2005 at 12:00 pm