May 24, 6:09 p.m. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Joel White jogged behind Max Bartig and Sid Smith, collaring his two teammates as the shouts of Syracuse men’s lacrosse team pounded the walls of the tunnel in the bowels of Gillette Stadium here.

‘What’d you say, guys?’ he yelled through the din.

Good question.

What to say? How to describe the Orange’ 12-11 double overtime victory Saturday – a heart-in-your-throat thrill ride that senior attack Mike Leveille ended with 1:43 left in the second session – over two-seed Virginia in front of 48,224 fans?

Third-seed Syracuse earned the right to play in its 15th national title game on Monday, avenging its early season overtime loss to Virginia and re-cementing its perch at the top of the lacrosse heap after last season’s 5-8 debacle.

It will face fifth-seed Johns Hopkins, who beat top-seed Duke, 10-9, after the Orange (15-2) and Cavaliers (14-4) finished their bloodletting.

But to get there, the Orange had to rally from its largest deficit all-season (five goals), beat red-hot goalie Bud Petit (16 saves) and have two Virginia shots hit the pipe in the wild OT periods (one on the right post, one on the left).

So again, what to say?

Perhaps it’s best to keep it simple, and turn, as the Orange did, to Leveille for answers.

He walked into the tunnel a few minutes after the rest of the team, with fellow senior captain Kyle Guadagnolo a step or two behind. A smile broke out on Leveille’s face as assistant coach Roy Simmons III approached.

‘Simmy!’ he yelled. The two embraced, the son of legendary former coach Roy Simmons Jr. and scion of the Syracuse lacrosse program hugging its latest hero.

Leveille leaned towards his teammate Guadagnolo, who lost his brother Aaron in a motorcycle accident earlier this week.

‘Had to give him another chance,’ Leveille said.

Leveille had to, for Guadagnolo, for his fellow seniors, for all his teammates.

‘He’s unbelievable,’ said junior midfielder Matt Abbott, who netted three goals, a career high. ‘He’s been doing that all season for us. He’s been our leader on and off the field.’

On Saturday, Leveille had to score his five goals and two assists because his team needed them.

He had to end this game because it seemed no one else could, at least not during the overtime rollercoaster.

He had to because he had dragged the Orange back to this point, triggering an 8-2 run from the third period on to win the game, a rally he both started and ended.

So start with the ending.

With the second overtime in full swing and a healthy contingent of Syracuse fans roaring, Leveille took a feed and posted up defender Ken Clausen, bodying his way towards the center of the field.

Leveille had a chance in the first overtime, but Petit picked off his pass to Kenny Nims in front. Leveille wouldn’t make that mistake again.

So during the next session, the senior muscled back and forth with Clausen before Leveille swung around in front and slipped one past Petit, a left-hand shot that beat the fifth-year senior who had stymied the Orange most of the day.

Petit collapsed. The Orange bench exploded. It was over.

Of course, the road to the climax wasn’t that simple.

Leveille’s goal came after Virginia attack Ben Rubeor’s shot in the second overtime beat Syracuse goalie John Galloway – but not the left corner of the post. The shot bounced out of bounds and the Cavs lost possession.

Rubeor’s shot came after Syracuse midfielder Jovan Miller streaked down the field in transition in the first overtime and leapt as he shot at Petit. But the goalie flashed his stick and made the save. Syracuse attack Greg Niewieroski tumbled into the goal crease, a violation, and Virginia had another chance.

Miller’s run came after Virginia’s attack line had two great chances to end it earlier in that first session. Garrett Billings was stoned by Galloway on the doorstep. Danny Glading cranked a shot off the right pipe.

Those two chances came after Petit fended off a point-blank attempt by Niewieroski as the dying seconds of regulation ticked away.

And that, of course, came after the Orange stormed back from being down 8-3, then 9-4, to even get a chance in overtime. Leveille pounced on a rebound and knotted it up at 11 with three minutes left in regulation.

Whew.

‘That’s kind of unheard of,’ Leveille said of all the chances in overtime. ‘I think both goalies and both defenses stepped up in overtime, and held on. I thought our defense did a great job limiting their chances. And we knew eventually, if we kept getting chances, one was going to fall.’

But it seemed like the Orange would never have that opportunity.

By the halfway point of the third quarter, before Leveille emerged, it seemed Syracuse wouldn’t be able to step out of its quicksand, the hole it had dug.

Virginia jumped on the Orange during the midway point of the game, cruising to a 6-3 lead at the half, and a 9-4 advantage with 6:16 in the third. Galloway wasn’t seeing the ball well on defense and the Virginia defenders slid to seal off shooting lanes on offense.

Glading paced the balanced Virginia offense, contributing a hat trick and an assist.

‘We just didn’t put up the points we would have liked to,’ Syracuse head coach John Desko said. ‘I thought Virginia did a great job sticking to the game plan. They played some terrific defense.’

That defense shut down most of the Syracuse offense: Kenny Nims, Steven Brooks and Dan Hardy – No. 2 through No. 4 on the points leader board for the Orange this season – were held to three total points.

Abbott, the slinky junior midfielder from Nottingham, N.Y., filled the void. Leveille took care of the rest.

‘It was one of the best (games) of my career,’ Abbott said. ‘I had a couple open shots and guys giving me the ball. Fortunately, a few of them went in.’

One those came off a Leveille assist, and cut the deficit to 8-4 in the third. Virginia scored again, before Leveille spun off Clausen – foreshadowing, maybe – and beat Petit to make it 9-5 and kick off the winning 8-2 rally.

The Orange scored five of the last six goals in regulation, with Abbott, Niewieroski and senior midfielder Brendan Loftus pitching in.

‘We were able to keep on fighting,’ Desko said.

Then came overtime, the wildness and Leveille’s game-winner.

Afterwards, the senior stood in the tunnel. He had showered and changed into a pair of navy slacks – at halftime of the second game, he would receive the Lowe’s Senior Class Award, given to the top senior athlete in each NCAA Division I sport.

A lanyard hung around his neck as the reporters picked his brain about his play, about the return to the spotlight of the national title game.

‘Participant (Saturday),’ the lanyard read. A simple phrase. But one full of meaning.

Leveille gets another one for Monday afternoon. That says it all.

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on May 29, 2008 at 12:00 pm