I've always liked lacrosse. I'm not really sure why, it's kind of like how I can't explain why I've always loved hockey so much. Unfortunately I didn't get to play lacrosse until I was a senior in high school and Gahanna got a club team thanks to the recent creation of a youth program (I'm glad this town gets really gung-ho about the sports I want to play once I'm too old to develop as a player).
If you know much about lacrosse, namely college lacrosse, you know that Memorial Day weekend is always set aside for the NCAA Lacrosse Championships, the final fours of lacrosse in Divisions I, II and III. Usually I try to watch some of these games if I can...it's not like I actually follow the sport but this is one of the few chances each year that it is televised, and obviously there are always great teams competing. I saw a little more than half of the 2009 Division I Championship and really wasn't paying too much attention to it...unlike most Ohio University students I stayed in Athens for the long weekend and didn't have a whole lot to do, the game was on in the background while I was doing something on my computer. Despite this less-than constant attention I paid to it, this game immediately came to mind when I decided to make this list. Why? Because, as cliche as it may sound, this game was exactly like something out of Hollywood.
Allow me to elaborate.
The game pitted defending national champ Syracuse against Cornell. Syracuse was going for its 11th national title, while Cornell hadn't won one since 1977. It was the Big Red, though, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never trailed during the game. Before I try to explain things any further, just watch the video below. The game action is what you need to see, and you can actually skip to the 1:45 mark and will still understand why this game is on my list. Enjoy.
Did I fool you? I technically was correct by saying Cornell never trailed during the game, since they lost in sudden death overtime. After watching those highlights, I'm sure you understand what I meant earlier...in fact, I don't even know if anyone could actually write an ending to a game like what actually happened. When Cornell took its late three-goal lead, even the commentators thought the game was over ("I'm not gonna say that that's the game but boy that's darn close"). I know I thought it was over...to be honest I'm not really sure why I didn't change the channel, but I'm glad I didn't. Not only was scoring three goals in 3:37 an unbelievable feat for the Orange, especially considering how much their offense had struggled in the second half, but the tying goal was one of the greatest plays I've ever witnessed in any sport. Period. Consider the situation: the Orange had already scored twice within a minute to cut Cornell's lead down to one, but with 27 seconds to go, it looked like there would be no fairy tale ending - an errant pass gave Cornell a clear, which is usually a guaranteed clock-killer if a team wants it to be. Again, the color man stated that Syracuse needed a "miracle" to tie the game. To his, mine and I'm sure Cornell's surprise, though, they got one. You just can't say enough about the tenacity shown by the Orange to get the ball back. But even after they took possession, it took two ridiculous passes to create the tying goal. The first came from Stephen Keogh, who came up with the loose ball, and didn't even look like a pass. I thought he was just sending to ball toward the goal with the hope that it would take a lucky bounce. As it turns out, Keogh knew exactly where it was going - to Matt Abbott. Abbott then was mobbed by two Big Red defenders before making an off-balance pass to Kenny Nims, who snuck behind the defense to the crease and got the ball past goalie Jake Myers with just 4.5 seconds to go. In a sport like lacrosse, this kind of last-second score is much harder to come by than in basketball or even football because once the buzzer sounds, that's it, play doesn't continue, the ball doesn't get to finish traveling its path, the game's over. If you haven't already, go back and watch that play again to truly appreciate its greatness.
Usually if a game goes to overtime, especially a championship game, the extra session is what makes it great, but that's not the case here. I'm not saying Cody Jamieson's championship-winning goal was boring, it was still a great play. But the real story is the comeback Syracuse made to force the extra session. With 5:31 left in the game, the Orange players and coaches were the only ones at Gillette Stadium who still believed they could win, and they did. It's very rare to see that type of late-game determination and success in any sport, and unfortunately most people missed it. There was a big crowd at the game, sure, and it was televised on ESPN, but the lacrosse fan base in America is spotty at best (local proof: Gahanna's only recent introduction of a sport that several Central Ohio high schools have succeeded in for years). I don't think I'm changing the world with this blog, but if you don't know much about lacrosse I hope you at least read this and saw that it is an incredibly exciting sport, one that involves high levels of skill and athleticism. People sometimes refer to it as "the fastest game on two feet," which, corny as it sounds, is true (excluding games played on skates). I don't think lacrosse will ever threaten to get as big as other sports, but I do hope it will continue to grow in popularity, especially since it is being played at the high level seen in this game. I consider myself lucky that I got to witness this unreal ending to a game for one of the most coveted titles in the sport.
My next post will enter the top half of my list and stay in the realm of college sports, but again might be an event you never heard about.
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