Hardy's Hat Trick Not Enough Against Massachusetts

Saturday, April 28

Amherst, MA

3 p.m.

Syracuse University

Massachusetts

Dan Hardy recorded his fourth hat trick of the season

Hardy's Hat Trick Not Enough Against Massachusetts

4/28/2007 5:56:21 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. – The 12th-ranked Syracuse Orange (5-7) lost to Massachusetts (7-6), 9-7, in its final road game of the season on Saturday, April 28 at Garber Field. Sophomore Dan Hardy led the Orange with three goals to record his fourth hat trick of the season, but the Minutemen got stellar play from goalie Doc Schneider, and hat tricks from Jim Connolly and Brett Garber to post its fourth consecutive win against the Orange at Garber. The loss eliminates Syracuse from NCAA Tournament contention.

Junior Mike Leveille added two goals for SU to extend his consecutive points streak to 38 games. Graduate student Greg Rommel and sophomore Greg Niewieroski scored the other two Orange goals. Rommel has 53 goals in his 52 career games, and Niewieroski has at least one goal in each of the last four games.

Sophomore goaltender Peter Coluccini made 14 saves in net for the Orange, his fourth double-digit save effort in the last six games.

The loss brings to an end one of the most dominating eras in the history of college sports. The Orange had earned bids to the last 24 NCAA Tournaments and had not missed the postseason since 1982. The defeat also ensures a losing record for the Orange for the first time since 1975, stopping its string of 31 straight winning seasons, which is the second-longest such stretch in NCAA history behind Johns Hopkins' 35.

Ironically, it was Massachusetts that brought an end to SU's reign of excellence. It was the Minutemen that also stopped Syracuse's streak of 22 straight Final Four appearances when it topped the Orange at Garber Field in 2005 in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

On Saturday, the Minutemen used stifling man-to-man and zone defenses to hold the Orange to just one goal in each of the first three periods, and it limited the Orange to its second-lowest scoring output of the year. When Syracuse did generate clean looks at the cage Schneider was there with big save after big save. He finished with a career-high 19 stops, including six in the opening quarter to help the Minutemen build its lead, and five in the fourth period to thwart SU's rally.

Hardy started the game's scoring with a goal in the first 25 seconds of play. The SU coaching staff ran him out of box on a substitution and he went to the goal uncovered, received a pass from Niewieroski in stride, and scored on the game's first shot.

After Hardy's score, Massachusetts settled in to its game plan of slowing the pace to minimize SU's possessions. The strategy worked and the Minutemen scored three goals in the final five minutes of the period to claim a 3-1 advantage after one quarter. Massachusetts added another goal midway through the second period to take a 4-1 lead. The Orange committed nine turnovers in the second quarter, which contributed to an overall scoreless streak of 28:38. Rommel finally ended the drought with a goal with less than a minute left in the first half.

Massachusetts tallied two goals in the span of a minute in the third period to go ahead 6-2. Garber, the grandson of legendary Minutemen coach, Dick Garber, for whom the field on campus is named, scored at the 12:21 mark, and Tim Balise scooped up a rebound and scored 30 seconds later to make it a four-goal game. Syracuse's lone goal of the period came with three minutes left when Niewieroski found the back of the net.

The Orange made a final push in the fourth quarter, pulling within a goal twice, but couldn't overcome the Minutemen. Leveille scored consecutive goals within a minute span to make it 7-6 with 7:48 left. UMass extended its lead back to two goals when Connolly scored at the 6:43 mark. Hardy cut the deficit to one again with his third goal, but Garber whistled a left-handed laser into the top-right corner of the cage with 3:26 remaining to close the game's scoring.

SU had opportunities in the waning minutes, but key face-off wins by the Minutemen, and Brian Jacovina's ability to elude Orange defenders when Massachusetts was forced to keep it in the box, allowed the Minutemen to run out the clock.

Syracuse will close out the 2007 season at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 5 against in-state rival Colgate in the Carrier Dome. It will be a special day as legendary Orange head coach Roy Simmons Jr. will be honored at halftime as part of SU's "Celebration of Champions."