Contact: Kerrin Perniciaro (315) 443-3341 [email protected] Weekly Release May 16, 2004 2004 Schedule/Results NCAA Playoffs Begin With No. 4 Seed (11-2) Syracuse Hosting Albany on May 16 February 14 NAVY (scrim.) W 10-8 Syracuse will play Albany at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, at the 21 at Maryland (scrim.) W 10-8 Carrier Dome in the first round of the 2004 NCAADivision I 28 #21 ARMY W 19-15 Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. The Orange earned the No. 4 seed in this year’s 16-team tournament with an 11-2 regular-season record. March Johns Hopkins (11-1) is the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Navy 6 at #15 Virginia W 18-12 (12-2) and No. 3 Maryland (12-2). 11 #5 NOTRE DAME W 19-13 “We always look forward to this time of year,” said SU head 20 at #1 Johns Hopkins L 5-17 27 at #5 Princeton W 14-12 coach John Desko. “It’s a new season. You can’t afford any slip- 30 HOBART W 16-10 ups.” Albany (10-5) and Syracuse met for the first time this season on April 24 at the Carrier April Dome. The Orange posted an 18-8 victory. 3 at #11 Brown W 13-6 Syracuse comes into this contest winners of its last three games against the Great Danes, 10 #20 LOYOLA W 13-8 Massachusetts (17-10) and Georgetown (13-9). SU’s last loss was a 14-10 decision at Rutgers 13 at #11 Cornell W 12-10 on April 17. 17 at #15 Rutgers L 10-14 It is the second year in a row that the Orange is hosting an NCAAfirst-round game. Last 24 ALBANY W 18-8 year, Dartmouth traveled to Syracuse for a first-round playoff game and was defeated by the May Orange, 13-11. 1 MASSACHUSETTS W 17-10 This is the second consecutive appearance for Albany in the NCAA Tournament. The 7 at #5 Georgetown W 13-9 Great Danes earned their first-ever bid last year when they faced another No. 4 seed in 16 ALBANY (NCAA) 1:00 p.m. Princeton and lost a 16-10 decision. UAlbany has captured back-to-back America East 23 NCAAQuarterfinals Conference championships. It beat Binghamton this year for the title, 10-4, on May 8. (Ithaca, N.Y.) 29 NCAASemifinals Orange Has the Second-Best Winning (M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore) 31 NCAAFinals Percentage in NCAA Tournament Play (M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore) This will be Syracuse’s 25th appearance(22nd consecutive) in the NCAA Tournament. The Orange first qualified in 1979, which coincidentally was Coach Desko’s senior year at On the Air SU. The team made it again in 1980 and 1981, but missed the 1982 tournament. Since 1983, Radio Syracuse has participated every year. The only other time the Orange earned a No. 4 seed SU’s games have been broadcast all season was in 1998. SU lost a one-goal game to Princeton in the NCAAsemifinals that year at on the school’s flagship radio station for Rutgers, 11-10. Syracuse has played in an unprecedented 21-straight NCAAsemifinal games. lacrosse, ESPN Radio 1260 AM. Brian The Orange has appeared in 13 championship games and won eight titles. It has won two of Higgins will handle play-by-play duties for the last four NCAAcrowns (2000 and 2002). Its other championship titles came in 1983, SU’s Radio Network. Syracuse equipment 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993 and 1995. manager Kyle Fetterly is in his fourth season Syracuse owns an NCAA Tournament record of 47-16 to rank second in all-time as a color analyst for the Orange. This game tournament winning percentage (.746). Princeton (26-8) has the best winning percentage at can be heard through the internet at nearly 77 percent. www.suathletics.com. WAER FM 88 will also broadcast the Won-Lost Records in Tournament Play NCAAfirst round game against Albany. Jason Team Won Lost Pct. 1st 2nd 3rd Benetti is the sports director. Princeton 26 8 .765 6 2 1 SYRACUSE*** 47 16 .746 8 5 9 Television Johns Hopkins 50 25 .667 7 8 9 The Syracuse vs. Albany game will NOTbe Cornell 20 13 .606 3 3 3 televised. The NCAAquarterfinals will be ***SU’s participation in the 1990 tournament was vacated by the NCAACommittee on broadcast from Ithaca, N.Y. by ESPN Regional Infractions, so the NCAAdoes not recognize the Orange’s 3-0 record or its national Television. Dave Ryan and Quint Kessenich championship from that season. According to the NCAA, SU owns the second-highest will call the action. ESPN2 will televise the winning percentage in tournament play with a 44-16 record and .733 mark. semifinals, while ESPN will carry the finals. NCAA Champions • 83 • 88 • 89 • 90 • 93 • 95 • 00 • 02 21 Consecutive Final Fours 2004 Syracuse Lacrosse N C A A Notes vs. Albany Syracuse Leads the All-Time Stat Comparison Series with Albany, 1-0 Syracuse vs. Albany No. 6 Syracuse 18, Albany 8 April 24, 2004 Syracuse Stat Category Albany Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y. 13 Games 15 572 Shots 500 Michael Powell had five goals and one assist, while Steve Vallone 187 Goals 170 scored four goals to help the No. 6-ranked Syracuse men's lacrosse team 96 Assists 106 to an 18-8 victory against Albany at the Carrier Dome. 283 Points 276 SU opened the game with a 4-0 first-quarter lead. Powell had two .327 Shot% .340 goals in the opening period. The Great Danes got on the scoreboard in 170 Saves 208 the second quarter where they tallied four of their eight goals and pulled .541 Save% .589 to within 7-4 with 5:23 left to play in the second stanza. 11.08 Goals Against Average 9.63 Defenseman Scott Ditzell started things off for the Orange after 481 Groundballs 507 halftime with his first goal of the season, off a left-handed dodge at 20-53 (.377) EMO 33-65 (.508) 12:46. Brian Crockett netted back-to-back goals to push SU's lead up 268-338 (.793) Clears 253-361 (.701) to 11-4 with 11:27 left to play in the third. Albany's Michael Solazzo 188-373 (.504) Faceoff% 157-366 (.429) registered two goals in the third period, a man-up tally off a pass from 82/61:00 Penalties 79/62:30 Luke Aquino at the 7:20 mark and a finish with 1:43 remaining that made the score 14-6. Syracuse recorded two more goals before the end of the third quarter to take a 10-goal lead heading into the final 15 Syracuse vs. The America East minutes. Brett Bucktooth scored his career-high second goal off a pass from Powell with 28 seconds remaining and Vallone registered his third Conference goal with two seconds remaining. This will be Syracuse’s second game against an opponent from the SU goalie Jay Pfeifer nearly scored. At one point in the game, he America East Conference this season. In fact, Albany is the only other carried the ball upfield and passed off to Powell, who gave the ball back team from the league, besides UMBC, that Syracuse has ever faced and on a give-and-go. Pfeifer wound up and shot the ball low, but it was saved by Albany goaltender Kevin Rae. It was the second time in this will be the second-ever meeting between SU and the Great Danes. Pfeifer's career that he nearly scored a goal. During the 2002 NCAA The two teams met April 24 at the Carrier Dome, where Syracuse playoffs at Hofstra his first season, he ran down field and attempted a posted an 18-8 victory. shot on goal. The last time the Orange played UMBC was May 11, 1984. They Each team netted two goals in the fourth quarter. Vallone registered posted a 26-6 victory in Baltimore. UMBC leads the all-time series his fourth goal of the afternoon at the 11:55 mark. Tim Primrose tallied with SU, 5-2. for Albany at 9:32. Alex Zink found Brian Nee on a man-up The six America East member institutions - along with associate opportunity with 6:53 left to play which gave SU its largest lead of the member Quinnipiac - played a six-game regular-season conference game (18-7). Chris Martocchia was responsible for Albany's eighth goal, schedule and competed for the four championship berths. Albany beat the final score of the contest. UMBC, 9-8 in overtime in the conference semifinals and knocked off Pfeifer finished with 14 saves. Senior Nick Donatelli played the Binghamton, 10-4 for their second consecutive league championship entire fourth quarter and totaled five saves for the Orange. and NCAAautomatic berth. SYRACUSE 18, ALBANY 8 2004 America East Men’s Lacrosse Standings (as of May 8) 1 2 3 4 OT Final School America East Overall ALBANY 0 4 2 2 8 Binghamton 6-0 10-6 SYRACUSE 4 4 8 2 18 UMBC 4-2 6-8 Albany 4-2 10-5 Goals: SU - Powell 5, Vallone 4, Nee 2, Crockett 2, Bucktooth 2, Stony Brook 4-2 9-6 Lindsay 1, Rommel 1, Ditzell 1. Albany - Solazzo 2, Russell 1, Vermont 2-4 6-9 Thomson 1, Martocchia 1, Green 1, Primrose 1, Beach 1. Assists: SU - Crockett 2, Nee 2, Dougherty 1, Lindsay 1, Park 1, Quinnipiac 1-5 2-11 Powell 1, Rommel 1, Zink 1.