AMHERST, Mass. – The crushing ending just didn’t seem to piece together with the exhilarating comeback.

For three quarters, the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team trailed Massachusetts in every aspect of the game. So, naturally when the Orange ran off five straight goals to send the game to overtime, the momentum shifted toward Syracuse.

And as Brian Crockett’s shot early in overtime rocketed toward the cage, most of the Orange sideline figured it would seal the deal.

‘It just hit the pipe,’ Crockett said. ‘I thought it was going in.’

The rebound ricocheted out of bounds, handing UMass possession. Jeff Zywicki promptly took advantage, sending his own rebound past SU goalie Jay Pfeifer.

The sudden goal erased SU’s comeback and sent the No. 8 Minutemen to a 14-13 overtime victory over No. 7 Syracuse in front of 3,428 at Garber Field. Syracuse dropped to 1-5 against top 10 opponents. While the regular-season ending loss posed no threat to SU’s NCAA tournament hopes, the Orange certainly faces the possibility of playing an opening-round road game.

‘You have to take the positives,’ Syracuse head coach John Desko said. ‘Sure, we’re unhappy. But we had the ball in overtime and two chances to win.’

Zywicki’s back-breaking goal, his third of the game, sent the large Senior Day crowd into a frenzy. Several students ran onto the field, as Zywicki, an Ontario, Canada native, somersaulted to celebrate his goal.

One fan repeatedly screamed ‘Thank God for Canada,’ as Zywicki was mobbed by his teammates.

The goal left the Orange (7-5) wondering what happened to the momentum it gained at the end of regulation. SU trailed 13-8 with 8:15 remaining before scoring five straight goals. Freshman attack Mike Leveille drew SU within a goal with 1:15 remaining.

After a scramble on the ensuing face-off, the ball carried out of bounds off UMass (11-2). Steven Brooks and Crockett both fired shots wide, but Syracuse maintained possession. Finally, Leveille carried the ball inbounds and drew two defenders, finding Brett Bucktooth open.

Bucktooth, a senior attack, scored easily, tying the score with 28 seconds remaining.

‘The offense finally started to get in sync,’ Desko said.

A rejuvenated Danny Brennan, who along with Geoff Keough and Jon Jerome lost 15 of 20 face-offs through the first three quarters, won the draw to start overtime. One Crockett shot sailed high and wide, but the Orange regained possession.

Earlier in the game, Desko noticed Syracuse shot low with little success against Minutemen goalie Bill Schell. He advised his attackmen to aim higher.

Crockett heeded the advice, but his shot to win the game clanged off the pipe and took an awkward bounce toward the sideline.

‘We are all up on the sideline,’ Brooks said. ‘We thought we had them.’

Zywicki promptly ran the ball through the middle of SU’s defense and fired at Pfeifer (12 saves), who stopped the initial shot. But the ball caromed right back into Zywicki’s stick. He easily stuck home the rebound.

Though the comeback proved exciting and dramatic, it resulted in yet another one-goal loss to a top 10 opponent. SU’s five losses have come by a combined eight goals, including three by one goal and two in overtime.

Still, the Orange lacks a signature win. Army is now ranked No. 9, but when SU beat the Black Knights, they were ranked 14th. Syracuse has beaten only two other teams currently ranked in the top 20.

After the game, Desko said he couldn’t yet predict Syracuse’s tournament fate. While the Orange’s regular season is complete, most teams have a game next weekend. Desko said SU still has a top RPI and the selection committee will take its strength of schedule and close losses into consideration.

While SU will no doubt qualify for the playoffs, it will likely find itself playing at a top-level opponent in the first round.

‘We’ll be fine,’ Crockett said. ‘We prefer to play at home, but we earned what we’re going to get. Now we’ve just got to fight our way out of it.’

Published on May 1, 2005 at 12:00 pm