May 29, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Sophomore attackman Liam Banks tied his
career-high with six goals, leading top-seeded Syracuse to its sixth
NCAA Division I men's lacrosse title with a 13-7 victory over
third-seeded Princeton Monday afternoon in front of 22,880 fans at Byrd
Stadium. It was the first loss by Princeton (12-3) in a championship
game in six attempts and is the first national title for Syracuse (15-1)
since 1995 when the Orangemen defeated Maryland, 13-9. It is also the
first national title for Syracuse under second-year head coach John
Desko.
Banks garnered tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, scoring six
goals on six shots and adding an assist for seven points. His six goals
is the second highest total in a championship game and the most since
Jeff Cook of Johns Hopkins scored six in the 1981 final. Ryan Powell
tallied three goals and added two assists - tying his brother Casey's
all-time points record of 287 at Syracuse. Both were selected to the
all-tournament team.
The Orangemen led from start to finish, putting up the first five goals
of the game and held Princeton scoreless in the first quarter. Powell
drew first blood, taking a pass from Josh Coffman for a score with 8:15
left in the first. Less than two minutes later, Liam Banks scored the
first of his back-to-back goals. Coffman followed with 2:39 left in the
first as he scored from just outside the crease in a man-down situation
to give the Orangemen a 4-0 advantage. It marked the seventh time in a
championship game that a team has been held scoreless in the first
quarter.
The Orangemen continued the assault in the second quarter when Powell
followed his own rebounded shot with a behind-the-head man-up goal over
Princeton goalie Trevor Tierney's right shoulder. Mike Springer made it
6-0 with an unassisted goal. Princeton broke through with 6:08 left in
the first half as Sean Hartofilis drove the cage and scored low to get
the Tigers on the board. Owen Daly and Rob Torti added goals :30 apart
as the Tigers closed the second quarter with three of the last four
goals to get within 7-3.
Syracuse quickly squelched the Tigers' momentum, opening its largest
lead of the game at 11-3 with the first four goals of the second half.
Banks scored three of the goals and Springer tallied his second goal of
the afternoon with a rocket shot from the left point that went over
Tierney's right shoulder. Josh Sims ended the Orangemen run with an
unassisted goal and Brendan Tierney tallied with :08 left in the third
quarter to cut the deficit to 11-5. Princeton would get no closer than
five goals in the fourth quarter.
Joining Powell and Banks on the all-tournament team from Syracuse are
Marshall Abrams, John Glatzel and Rob Mulligan. The following players
were also selected to the all-tournament team: Sean Hartofilis and Josh
Sims of Princeton, Ryan Curtis and Conor Gill of Virginia and A.J.
Haugen of Johns Hopkins.
The total championship weekend attendance of 66,435 ranks as the fifth
highest total in men's lacrosse history.
GAME SCORING
Princeton (12-3) 0 3 2 2 -- 7
Syracuse (15-1) 4 3 4 2 -- 13
Qtr.-Time Team, Goal (Assist) PU-SU
1 - 8:15 SU, Ryan Powell (Josh Coffman) 0-1
1 - 6:44 SU, Liam Banks (unassisted) 0-2
1 - 3:43 SU, Liam Banks (unassisted) 0-3
1 - 2:39 SU, Josh Coffman (Mike Springer) - MAN DOWN 0-4
2 - 12:04 SU, Ryan Powell (unassisted) - EMO 0-5
2 - 7:14 SU, Mike Springer (unassisted) 0-6
2 - 6:07 PU, Sean Hartofilis (unassisted) 1-6
2 - 3:17 SU, Liam Banks (Ryan Powell) 1-7
2 - 2:57 PU, Owen Daly (unassisted) 2-7
2 - 2:27 PU, Rob Torti (unassisted) 3-7
3 - 13:53 SU, Liam Banks (Mike Springer) 3-8
3 - 12:16 SU, Liam Banks (Tom Hardy) 3-9
3 - 7:57 SU, Mike Springer (Tom Hardy) 3-10
3 - 5:09 SU, Liam Banks (unassisted) 3-11
3 - 4:25 PU, Josh Sims (unassisted) 4-11
3 - 0:08 PU, Brendan Tierney (Chris Harrington) - EMO 5-11
4 - 13:49 SU, Ryan Powell (Liam Banks) 5-12
4 - 4:25 PU, Matt Striebel (Josh Sims) 6-12
4 - 1:48 PU, Josh Sims (Ryan Mollett) 7-12
4 - 0:18 SU, Ethan Mills (Ryan Powell) 7-13
TEAM STATS
Category Princeton Syracuse
Shots 7-9-7-11=32 9-11-14-5=39
Saves 3-5-5-2=15 3-1-1-5=10
Face-Offs (3/5),(3/6),(1/7),(0/4)=7/22 (2/5),(3/6),(6/7),(4/4)=15/22
Groundballs 8-6-6-11=31 17-14-14-12=57
Clears (5/5),(2/2),(7/7),(8/10)=22/24 (7/7),(4/4),(6/7),(6/8)=23/26
Extra-Man Opp. (0/1),(0/2),(1/1),(0/2)=1/6 (0/1),(1/3),(0/0),(0/2)=1/6
Penalties 6/6:30 8/6:00
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Princeton Scorers Goals-Asst.-Pts.
Josh Sims 2-1-3
Owen Daly 1-0-1
Sean Hartofilis 1-0-1
Matt Striebel 1-0-1
Brendan Tierney 1-0-1
Rob Torti 1-0-1
Chris Harrington 0-1-1
Ryan Mollett 0-1-1
Syracuse Scorers Goals-Asst.-Pts.
Liam Banks 6-1-7
Ryan Powell 3-2-5
Mike Springer 2-2-4
Josh Coffman 1-1-2
Tom Hardy 0-2-2
Ethan Mills 1-0-1
GOALIES
Princeton Goalies Saves GA Min.
Trevor Tierney 15 12 59
Willis Wu 0 1 1
Syracuse Goalies Saves GA Min.
Rob Mulligan 10 7 59
Bob Rust 0 0 1
ATTENDANCE: 22,880
