May 21, 2011
Greatest games: Orange crushed by UMass
by Ian B. Murphy/
The UMass Minutemen celebrate their 16-15 win over defending champ Syracuse in the first round of the 2005 NCAAs. (photo: Karen A. Winger/UMass Athletics)
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the May 2011 issue of New England Lacrosse Journal.
Headed into their first-round playoff matchup against Syracuse in 2005, the University of Massachusetts men knew just who they were facing.
They knew the Orangemen were the defending national champions, with nine NCAA championships to their credit. They knew Syracuse hadn’t lost a preliminary-round game since 1981 and had made 23 consecutive trips to the Final Four.
But UMass also knew it could win, and its white-knuckle 16-15 victory catapulted the program to the next level.
Minutemen coach Greg Cannella and his troops had beaten Syracuse at UMass’ home finale earlier that year, 14-13, in overtime. It was just their second victory against the Orangemen since 1983; both victories were 14-13 overtime thrillers played in the rain at Garber Field.
The Minutemen had tasted victory against the champs, and they wanted it again.
“It’s always a highlight game for the UMass program to play Syracuse. The mentality going into the Syracuse game (for) a program like UMass is that we very much wanted to stand up to ‘the man,’” said UMass defender Jack Reid, who now plays professionally for both the Boston Cannons and Boston Blazers. “Everyone is very much pro-Syracuse, and that that’s the epitome of college lacrosse, and it’s very much one of those flagship programs.”
Syracuse head coach John Desko also served up some bulletin-board material for the Minutemen, questioning raucous Garber Field as an NCAA host field.
“They did a real fair amount of complaining about the facility itself and about the appropriateness of it being able to host a playoff game, but it was a whole lot of belly-aching because it wasn’t a typical stadium set-up,” Reid said. “The fan interaction was a little too close for comfort for Coach Desko. It was kind of an annoyance, and that it was a detraction from us and the program. It certainly served as a motivator.”
“They were upset, because they didn’t want to come back here,” Cannella said.
The extra motivation fired up a rowdy student section, and the Minutemen responded from the start. Senior Jeff Zywicki netted the first of his six goals from practically behind the goal line extended just two minutes into the game.
Cannella said Zywicki made several highlight plays, continuing his clutch streak against Syracuse. Zywicki scored both of UMass’ overtime winners in those two upsets of the Orange, and he carried that into the playoff game.
“It was sort of a magical day for him … he ended up with six goals in the game, and he made a behind-the-back feed to Sean Morris in the first half that was just unbelievable,” Cannella said. “Jeff had a double team on him and he feeds it to Sean Morris who was cutting back door and Sean finished the ball.”
The first half also had an unlikely star: Backup sophomore goalie Efosa Guobadia made the start in net, as starter Bill Schell broke his thumb earlier in the week.
“Efosa was spectacular in the first half,” Cannella said. “He was high energy. He made some good saves. He’s such a good athlete; he outran Syracuse guys on shots to the end lines a couple times.”
UMass opened 2-0, extended the lead to 5-2 and was up 7-4 at the half.
That’s when things started getting crazy.
UMass scored the first goal of the third quarter, but then things turned sour for UMass at both the faceoff X and the goalie’s crease.
The Orangemen won 10 of 15 faceoffs in the quarter. Guobadia recorded only one save, as Syracuse netted seven goals on nine shots. Syracuse scored five of seven goals during one stretch, pulling within 11-10. Orange attack Brian Crockett netted three in the quarter.
Reid, who marked Crockett for much of the game, said he could feel the tide turning as Syracuse’s famed offense opened up and got rolling.
“It was a high-octane quarter in the third, with an explosion right out of the gate,” Reid said. “The tension was palpable. The up and down really puts a lot of stress on the defender, and certainly on our defense and our goalies as a whole trying to come up with a stop, and we weren’t getting many in the third quarter.
“What was really great was the ability of our offense to keep answering the bell,” he said.
Morris, then a junior, had three goals and three assists in the game. He was a major part of the UMass attack that took 19 third-quarter shots. Only seven of those shots were on net, but six of them went in.
“It was a wild one, and back and forth, up and down and, honestly, as a player and a fan of the game of lacrosse, that’s what you want in a playoff atmosphere,” Cannella said. “As a coach, well, both coaches were going nuts. You had to keep scoring, because you know they were going to score.”
With each Syracuse goal, the Minutemen were able to eventually answer back. UMass never trailed, and entered the fourth quarter leading 13-11.
With six minutes left in the fourth, Zywicki scored his sixth goal on a man advantage, giving UMass a 15-13 lead. Desperate to slow down the Syracuse offense, Cannella tried to throw a new look at the Orangeman attack.
“We zoned them, and it didn’t work,” Cannella said.
Syracuse’s Greg Rommel scored with 4:06 left, causing Cannella to pull Guobadia and insert Schell, broken thumb and all.
“As well as Efosa played in the first half, he lost it,” Cannella said. “He lost his focus and he wasn’t great there in the second half.”
With UMass maintaining the zone, Syracuse attack Brent Bucktooth, who finished with four goals on the day, scored with 3:06 remaining.
“Bucktooth stung one from the top of the box, and we’re going ‘Holy cow, here we go,’” Cannella said.
With Cannella searching for a fix in the crease, UMass’ Jake Deane buckled down on faceoffs in the quarter, winning five of seven in the crucial final period. Another win led to a possession and scoring chance for Morris, who found himself with the ball in his sweet spot, the high wing.
“I always like dodging from the high wings, that way I’m able to use my quickness and speed,” Morris said. “If somebody keeps up with me, then I try to use my strength.
“I went at them, and they were trying to slide real early, so I held off and pulled back out, brought them to another point up top, and went at it again and I was able to get underneath them.
“The slide came, and I was able to absorb the hit and put a good shot on cage, and got the ball to the corner, and fortunately it went in,” he said.
Morris scored with 1:12 left in regulation. Deane won the next faceoff, and Brian Jacovina and Chris Doyle kept the ball away from the swarming Syracuse defense, running wild behind the cage.
“Any time you win a home playoff game, it’s a great win,” Cannella said. “Against a team like Syracuse with the kind of stature they had at the time, it’s really a great win, knocking them out of the Final Four for the first time in 23 years.”
For Reid, it was a signature win for his team. The Minutemen lost in Baltimore against undefeated and top-ranked Johns Hopkins in the next round, but the Syracuse win was crucial to UMass’ 2006 run to the national championship game.
“It was a great mountain climb for us to be able to end Syracuse’s Final Four streak, to realize the abilities we had as unit, and to believe in what we were trying to do, what we were doing and what we were capable of,” Reid said. “These things were great moments in the UMass program and set new highs for us, and really built some of the foundation that we relied on as we moved on into the ’06 season when we were able to push things to the national championship. This was certainly a building block and a stepping stone along the way.”
The 10 greatest lacrosse games ever played in New England
By itself, lacrosse is a terrific game. But every now and again, circumstances, events and superior athletes combine to produce a contest for the ages, the kind of game people talk about years or decades later. This year, the New England Lacrosse Journal is counting down — and retelling the story — of the 10 Greatest Games Ever Played in New England, featuring one game per issue:
10. Christmas in July — The Boston Cannons’ John Christmas scores on a Hail Mary pass with seconds on the clock to beat Long Island in 2008.
9. Garber vs. Garber — Iconic UMass coach Dick Garber takes on his son Ted of UNH in the NCAA tournament in 1986.
8. 10 seconds in Beantown — The Blazers score twice in the last 10 seconds to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
7. Dragon slayers — St. John’s last-second miracle and overtime win in 2010 snaps Duxbury’s string of Massachusetts championships.
6. Orange crushed — UMass tops defending champ Syracuse, 16-15, in first round of NCAA tournament, snapping the Orangemen’s consecutive Final Four streak at 23.
Ian B. Murphy can be reached at feedback@laxjournal.com
