Syracuse Downs Virginia 12-11 in Double Overtime

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FOXBOROUGH, MASSMike Leveille’s fifth goal of the game with 1:43 remaining in the second overtime period lifted Syracuse to a 12-11 win over Virginia this afternoon in the first semifinal game of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament.

Leveille’s goal capped a remarkable comeback by the Orange, who rallied from a 5-goal second half deficit to advance to Monday’s final against the winner of the second semifinal contest between Duke and Johns Hopkins. Syracuse’s win ended a 5-game series winning streak by the Cavaliers and knotted the all-time series at 12 wins apiece. Syracuse improves to 15-2 overall this season, while Virginia concludes its season with a 14-4 record.

Danny Glading led the Cavaliers with three goals and one assist, the second time in three playoff games he was the team’s leading scorer.

Virginia erased an early 3-2 Syracuse lead with five consecutive goals over nearly 14 minutes spanning the first and second quarters. Will Barrow tied the score at two with a marvelous coast-to-coast run that culminated with his seventh goal of the season with 6:52 remaining in the first quarter. Max Pomper followed a short time later to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead.

Glading and Brian Carroll opened the second quarter with quick goals and Garrett Billings pushed the Cavalier lead to 6-2 with 8:02 left in the first half. Syracuse’s Kenny Nims scored in the final minute of the first half as Virginia took a 6-3 lead to the locker room at the break.

Virginia’s lead grew to 8-3 midway through the third quarter behind goals from Glading and Rhamel Bratton.

Matt Abbott scored the first of his three goals midway through the third quarter and the Orange outscored the Cavaliers 3-1 to close the quarter.

Billings scored his second of the game with 45 seconds elapsed in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers maintained a 10-6 lead.

Leveille and Abbott scored back-to-back goals to cut UVa’s lead to 10-8 with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Glading notched his third of the afternoon with 7:52 to go in regulation, but it was to be the Cavaliers’ final goal of the contest.

Greg Niewieroski and Brendan Loftus scored 14 seconds apart as Syracuse cut the Cavaliers’ lead to one goal, the closest since early in the first quarter.

Leveille forced overtime with three minutes remaining in regulation.

Bud Petit recorded two of his 16 saves in the first overtime period to highlight a tremendous performance in his final collegiate appearance.

Glading had a chance to win for the Cavaliers in the first overtime period but his shot with 52 seconds left hit the post.

In the second overtime period, Ben Rubeor’s bid for the winner hit the corner of the post with 2:29 remaining with Syracuse backing up to gain possession.

Following a Syracuse timeout, Petit made a save on a shot by Loftus, with Syracuse maintaining possession. Leveille scored the winner with a low shot that got past Petit from eight yards away.

Syracuse 2-1-3-5-0-112 record: 15-2
Virginia 3-3-3-2-0-011 record: 14-4
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Scoring (G-A) SU: Mike Leveille 5-2, Matt Abbott 3-0, Brendan Loftus 2-0, Greg Niewieroski 1-0, Kenny Nims 1-0, Dan Hardy 0-2, Stephen Keogh 0-1. UVA: Danny Glading 3-1, Garrett Billings 2-0, Brian Carroll 1-1, Will Barrow 1-0, Rhamel Bratton 1-0, Shamel Bratton 1-0, Peter Lamade 1-0, Max Pomper 1-0, Ben Rubeor 0-1, Mike Thompson 0-1.

Goalie SummarySU: John Galloway 66:17 mins., 9 saves, 11 goals allowed. UVA: Bud Petit 66:17 mins., 16 saves, 12 goals allowed.

Shots: SU47, UVA35
Ground Balls: SU 44, UVA 25
Clearing: SU15x17, UVA17x18
Faceoffs: SU19, UVA8
Penalties: SU6-4:00, UVA3-2:30
EMO: SU2x3, UVA1x5