Trailing 9-6 with less than 4:00 minutes remaining in the title game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, defending champs Syracuse scored four straight goals, including the game-winner in overtime to claim its 11th NCAA Championship by defeating Cornell, 10-9 on Monday.
Senior Dan Hardy connected with Cody Jamieson at the 2:40 mark of the overtime period. Jamieson put the game winner in with ease.
"As soon as I shot it, I knew it was going in," Jamieson shared. "I just turned around and ran down the field to find Sid (Smith)." Jamieson and defender Smith are best friends.
The Orange's 11 titles is tops in the sport. With the win, the Orange improved to 11-5 in championship games. John Desko, who claimed his fifth title as head coach, improved his NCAA record to 28-5. He's third in title wins behind former SU mentor Roy Simmons, Jr. and Princeton head coach Bill Tierney, each with six. This is Syracuse's fifth title of the decade. The Orange won titles in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2009.
"I'm a little bit at a loss for words," said Desko. "I can't tell you how happy I am for our group. I'm excited they've won the school's 11th national championship."
Cornell's Roy Lange scored with 5:31 left in the fourth to take a 9-6 advantage. That would be the Big Red's last scoring of the day as the Orange answered with three consecutive goals. Stephen Keogh scored his second goal of the game on an assist from Hardy with 3:37 left in regulation.
Josh Amidon assisted Jamieson with 2:46 remaining to cut the lead to 9-8.
In the final minute of the game, Cornell had possession and all they needed to do was control the ball and not turn it over. Solid defensive play by the Orange forced a Big Red turnover. Keogh picked up a loose ball and dished it to Matt Abbott. Guarded by two Cornell defenders, Abbott threw a behind the back pass to Kenny Nims who dove in front of the goal and fired the shot in with four ticks remaining in the game.
"To be honest, I never did think we were going to lose," senior Kenny Nims who won the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament said. "Our guys never give up. Starting last year we made a commitment to ourselves to work hard on and off the field. We became a lot more disciplined and it's been showing the past two seasons."
In the sudden-death overtime, Cornell won the face-off. Smith regained possession for the Orange to set up the winning score.
Nims was joined by Abbott, Jamieson, Pat Perritt and Joel White on the all-tournament team.
Jamieson and Keogh each had two goals. Amidon and Hardy each had one goal and two assists. The Orange won 12-of-22 faceoffs. Jake Moulton was 10-of-17 from the faceoff circle.
Syracuse trailed 3-2 after the first period, which marked only the third time this season that the Orange was behind in a game.
Cornell scored three times in the second period. Perritt and Abbott both contributed goals for the Orange. The Big Red led at the half, 6-4.
Both teams just scored one goal each in the third period as Cornell led 7-5.
Jamieson assisted Hardy on a goal to cut the lead to 7-6. Cornell responded with two straight goals before the Orange began the dramatic comeback.