Crisis Averted: Syracuse Beats Hopkins 10-7

Syracuse not only defeated Johns Hopkins 10-7 on Saturday night in Baltimore but by doing so, they knocked the Blue Jays out of the top ten for only the 13th time since 1973 (good lord).  Sufficed to say, it was a good win.

The win could have been a lot better, as the Orange jumped out to a commanding 8-1 lead.  As has happened all season long, however, SU forgot to play a full game and Hopkins roared back late.  It was a 9-7 game with 2:47 left until Joel White scored, iced the Blue Jay rally and put the game out of reach.

"I probably should have pulled it out," White admitted. "But (Stephen) Keogh cut through and his defender went with him, leaving me wide open. Jammer (Cody Jamieson) said he had the backup (allowing SU to retain possession if White’s shot went wide), and the goalie pulled off the pipe just a bit. I decided to go for it. If I had missed, the coach would have come looking for me."

With the win the Orange secured the same spots in the polls, No. 2 in the Coaches and No. 3 in the Media.  As if heeding my weekend warning, the Lacrosse Gods finally did the sensible thing and dropped 4-3 Hopkins out of the top ten despite the fact that their name is Johns Hopkins (#12 in both).  (Even Quint drops the Jays down to #13!)

The highlight of the night, however, had to be Cody Jamieson's first-quarter goal (courtesy of CitrusTV.net's Scott Grodsky)

The goal made the No. 8 spot on ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Day (and then moved all the way up to No. 5 later on).  I like to call that goal "Rage Against The Machine."  The intensity and power with which he flung the ball through his legs just made me immediately start humming "F**k you, I wont do what you tell me, f**k you, I won't do what you tell me, f**k you, I won't do what you tell me..."

By the way, the women's team might not have pulled out a win this weekend but they took powerhouse No. 1 Northwestern to the brink, losing 13-12 in spite of a spirited comeback. 

The final eight minutes featured three ties and four lead changes. Trailing 10-7 at halftime, Northwestern (6-0) netted five consecutive goals to start the second half to take an 11-10 lead with 17:33 remaining. Syracuse (4-2) tied the score on senior Christina Dove’s goal on an assist from junior Tee Ladouceur with 14:58 on the clock. Danielle Spencer broke the tie with her game-high sixth goal at the 5:16 mark, giving Northwestern a 12-11 advantage, but Dove and Ladouceur connected again, this time Ladouceur scoring on a dish from Dove, to knot the score at 12-12 at the 2:47 mark. The Orange won the ensuing draw, but a Northwestern double team forced an Orange turnover, giving the Wildcats possession with 2:36 remaining. Northwestern worked the ball into its offensive zone where Dowd netted the game-winner with 1:28 remaining.

Toughie.  The ladies are 4-2 and still ranked No. 7 in the nation. A loss like this to a juggernaut like Northwestern is probably better than a win over most teams, anyway.