No. 4 Orange Comeback Falls Short In NCAA Quarterfinal

Sunday, May 19

Towson, Md.

Noon

Syracuse University

12-6

Denver

13-3

Denver

Syracuse

No. 4 Orange Comeback Falls Short In NCAA Quarterfinal

5/19/2024 2:35:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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No. 4 Syracuse Defeated by No. 6 Denver in NCAA Quarterfinal Round

TOWSON, Md. – A comeback effort in the fourth quarter came up short as the No. 4/4 Syracuse men's lacrosse team lost in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships to No. 6/7 Denver, 10-8, on Sunday afternoon at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

The Denver Pioneers (13-3) used a streak of five unanswered goals between the second and third quarters to take a five-goal lead ahead of Syracuse (12-6) and effectively keep the advantage for the remainder of the contest. The Orange scored three-straight in the final period and held Denver scoreless over the final 15:44, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit for victory.

Michael Leo and Sam English were the top offensive producers for Syracuse. Leo contributed a hat trick while English had two goals and two assists. Owen Hiltz logged one goal and one assist for the Orange, while Finn Thomson and Jake Stevens each added one goal to round out the 'Cuse performers with points. Saam Olexo led an active Syracuse defense with three caused turnovers.

The Pios had four players with two goals: Michael Lampert, J.J. Sillstrop, Cody Malawsky and Ty Hussey. Lampert added one assist as well to lead Denver point scorers. Joshua Carlson (1g, 1a) and Mic Kelly (1g) were the other Pioneers to score a goal in the contest.

How It Happened

The Pios opened the scoring as Kelly netted a solo goal 1:16 into the contest. A quick response from Syracuse's Leo equalized the scored 39 seconds later off a feed from English.
With 6:22 left in the first quarter, English grabbed the lead for the Orange with his second point of the afternoon.
The score was once again even after a goal from Denver's Lampert. With 49 seconds to go in the first period, Carlson converted a shot that put the Pioneers ahead, 3-2.
After a scoring drought of 8:49, Leo netted his second of the outing to level the score at 3-3. 30 seconds before the end of the first half, Hussey finished a feed from Lampert that gave Denver a 4-3 advantage heading into the halftime intermission.
Out of the break, the Pios scored three straight in the first five minutes of the quarter. Malawsky contributed two and Hussey added one during the stretch. Sillstrop capped the five-goal run for Denver with 5:51 remaining in the quarter and gave the Pios an 8-3 lead.
Preceding a 19:09-span without a goal for SU, the Orange scored two in just 52 seconds apart. Stevens netted the first then English quickly followed up. Denver counter by scoring the last two goals of the third quarter.
Heading into the final 15 minutes, Syracuse trailed 10-5. Leo achieved a hat trick after finishing a feed from English. Exactly four minutes later, Thomson scored his first goal of the game.
With 3:18 remaining, Hiltz fired from the wing and brought the Orange within two of the Pios, 10-8. 'Cuse found opportunities and took shots in the final minutes of the game but could not convert.

Behind The Numbers

The squads were fairly even on the ground and at the X. Syracuse scooped 36 ground balls and won 10 faceoffs while Denver grabbed 31 ground balls and had 12 victories on faceoff attempts.
The Orange were successful on 23-of-25 clears and Denver successfully cleared the ball 26-of-27 times.
Denver's Malcolm Kleban stopped 10 shots and Will Mark made nine saves for Syracuse.
Syracuse moves to 27-7 in NCAA quarterfinal contests and 1-1 against Denver in NCAA tournament games.
'Cuse achieved 12 wins this season which was the most for the program since going 13-3 in 2017.