ITHACA, N.Y.- Syracuse attackman Michael Powell sat during the press conference after Sunday’s NCAA men’s lacrosse quarterfinals, chewed his gum and then blew a bubble.

A cell phone rang, and Powell made fun of the perpetrator for keeping it on.

Judging by his cool demeanor, it would have appeared No. 4 Syracuse routed No. 5 Georgetown. But that was far from the case.

Sean Lindsay scored off a beautiful Steve Vallone feed with five seconds remaining in the game, giving Syracuse a thrilling 8-7 victory over the Hoyas at Cornell’s Schoellkopf Field.

‘I don’t think it was the prettiest Syracuse game we’ve ever played,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘But a lot of that had to do with how Georgetown played us. We’re just happy to be playing again next weekend.’

For the second straight game against the Hoyas, Syracuse trailed at halftime, this time by a 5-3 margin. But thanks to Powell’s three third-quarter goals and Lindsay’s last-minute heroics, the Orange secured its 22nd consecutive Final Four appearance next weekend in Baltimore.

‘I didn’t expect to be down at halftime,’ Powell said. ‘But it seems all season we’ve been having trouble in the first half. Then all of a sudden, we really get a spurt going in the second half.’

With its illustrious streak intact, Syracuse can look forward to playing Johns Hopkins Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The Orange lost to Hopkins, 17-5, earlier this season.

While thinking about the rematch is daunting, Syracuse (13-2) wasn’t about to sour its celebration.

Desko was particularly pleased to keep the streak going. He’s been a part of all 22 Final Four appearances and did not want to be a spectator in Baltimore next weekend.

‘I’d be lost if we weren’t playing next weekend,’ Desko said.

Thanks to his resilient club, though, Desko doesn’t have to worry.

Kevin Dougherty scored unassisted for Syracuse with 8:19 remaining in the fourth quarter to deadlock the game at 7, and over the next eight-plus minutes, each team had its chances to pull ahead.

Brian Nee nearly put Syracuse ahead with less than a minute and a half remaining, but his shot was saved by Hoya goalie Rich D’Andrea (18 saves).

Georgetown then took possession, but was whistled for being offside only a few moments later. SU then took possession with 40 seconds.

Desko called a timeout and the ensuing possession sent Syracuse on to Baltimore.

Syracuse nearly ran out of time, though, before getting off the final shot, because a fuse blew midway through the game, and the scoreboard on the field stopped working. Officials kept track of the clock on the field, and only shouted out the time on occasion.

‘We were asking for it about every 10 seconds,’ Desko said of the clock. ‘They were doing a very good job of keeping us informed.’

Lindsay remembered hearing one of the officials shout, ‘Fifteen seconds,’ and as he heard it, Vallone had the ball and made his move. Beating one defender, Vallone fed a streaking Lindsay right in front of the net.

‘I just kind of made eye contact the whole way through it,’ Lindsay said. ‘I kept my eye on (Vallone) and made a hard cut through the goal. He put it right in the perfect spot. Right on the money.’

It was fitting the most experienced team in the tournament, laden with senior talent, was led by its seniors. Powell provided the second-half spark, Dougherty tied the game and then a pair of seniors gave the Orange the win.

‘We’re real determined and focused,’ Lindsay said. ‘We have a really, really tough mountain to climb next weekend. We’ve just got to worry about that right now. We’ll enjoy this win until the sun goes down, and then Hopkins is right in front of us.’

Published on May 23, 2004 at 12:00 pm