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The Daily OrangeBACK ON TOP
Syracuse completes year-long comeback with 10th national championship, 1st since 2004
By John Clayton
Posted: 5/26/08, 8:22 PM EST Section: Sports
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The air of delirium around Gillette Stadium was still fresh as Mike Leveille began to take stock of what his team had just accomplished.
The helmets and sticks of the Syracuse attack and his teammates - along with the bitter memories of last season - had long since been hurled away. They had been exchanged for crisp, white hats and T-shirts that read "Champions."
That's right, champions.
Third-seeded Syracuse reasserted its place among college lacrosse's behemoths on this Memorial Day Monday, defeating fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins, 13-10, to earn its NCAA-best 10th national championship and first since 2004. It did so in front of a pro-Syracuse crowd of 48,970, the largest attendance ever for a championship game.
"Best feeling of my life, I'll tell you that much," a giddy Leveille said on the field afterward, eye-black smeared all over his face and still glistening with sweat.
"It just means so much to so many people that we could go out and get it done."
It was an all-too-perfect ending for a Syracuse team that has played all season with a chip-on-its-shoulders type of urgency, keen to regain its spot among college lacrosse's titans after last year's 5-8 disaster.
The Orange (16-2) did so with a scrappy effort, one in which Leveille and freshman goalie John Galloway both struggled, only to be picked up by the other members of this Syracuse team that has grown so close during its comeback campaign. A group that persevered through struggles both lacrosse-related and personal - the most recent of which was the death of Aaron Guadagnolo, the 21-year-old brother of SU defenders Kyle and Tom.
"Unbelievable. It's like, we've gone through so much this year," freshman Jovan Miller said. "Just the psychological part of it, so many things could have gone wrong, but they went right. It's just been crazy."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Charles Lumia
posted 5/26/08 @ 10:05 PM EST
Great game!
The entire team really stepped up with a huge exclamation to finish the season. Great job to even involved, congratulations!
Anne
posted 5/27/08 @ 3:43 AM EST
Amazing win and turnaround for a Syracuse team that deserves it, especially when the football and basketball teams have done nothing to regain their status as elite teams. (Continued…)
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