NCAA Tournament: Maryland 6, Syracuse 5 (OT) - Curse Of The Neon Sneakers

There was one good thing to come out of No. 1 Syracuse's disappointing 6-5 loss to Maryland in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. We know now that the Orange will never wear these God-awful neon Nike socks and shoes again. I mean, ever.

Thanks, Nike.

It's an unfortunate end for one of Syracuse Lacrosse's greatest senior classes. It also drives home the sad truth that the days of an Orange Final Four as a given are no longer. Harrumph.

If there were two things that were going to do in the Orange, it was going to be their issues at the face-off and an opponent that decides to stall all day long. And so it went.

Following a script written by its bitter rival Hopkins during a 5-4 regular-season loss to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, Maryland (12-4) was warned for stalling 10 times but shrugged off each and continued to follow its patient game plan.

Thanks to Holmes, who won 11 of 14 faceoffs (78.6 percent), the Terps had plenty of time to try. They owned a huge advantage of possession time and a 34-22 shot advantage.

At the end of the day, the Orange had plenty of chances to win the game and just didn't come through. It was their final chance that ended up being one too many.

Syracuse blew another golden opportunity in overtime, too. Maryland won the opening faceoff and held the ball for nearly two minutes with just one shot. But with midfielder Jake Bernhardt carrying on top, SU defenseman Tom Guadagnolo hacked the ball out of his stick.

Drew scooped it up and took off toward the Maryland cage. He charged into the middle of the offensive zone, and Desko elected not to call a timeout to set up a play. Drew ultimately wound up from about 10 yards out and fired a shot that sailed wide. Amato hustled behind the net to get possession for the Terrapins, which resulted in Catalino's score.

Maryland joins Duke, Virginia and Denver in the Final Four next weekend in Baltimore. If you're not rooting for the Pios, you have no soul. Check out College Crosse for more on the NCAAs.