As the ball hit the back of the net, Hansen Woodruff bolted from the box toward the stands with his arms fully extended, sliding feet first on the ground about 20 feet away from the fans. His body sprawled on the ground.

Tom Perevegyencev arrived next, sliding next to Woodruff, patting him on the head.

The rest of the Syracuse men’s soccer team piled on top of them in celebration. Why not? Woodruff’s header past the goalie in the 93rd minute capped off a 23 minute-stretch in which SU scored three unanswered goals en route to a 3-2 overtime win over No. 21 Louisville in the season finale.

‘I don’t even know what went through my mind,’ Syracuse senior goalie Rob Cavicchia said. ‘I just ran across the field I just jumped up there, jumped up with the team, jumped up with the fans.

‘Somebody pinch me. I think I’m still sleeping. That was amazing, such a good feeling.’

The game meant little in the big picture. Syracuse (8-6-3, 4-6-1 Big East) had been eliminated from the Big East tournament picture before Saturday night’s contest. But that did little to deflate the Orange after a stunning comeback.

It looked like SU’s season would end in more disappointment, when Louisville (10-6-2, 5-5-1 Big East) scored its second goal 16 seconds into the second half. After the goal, Spencer Schomaker, Cavicchia and Perevegyencev tried to rally their teammates, yelling, clapping and pumping their fists.

‘It’s probably one of the toughest things to get scored on so fast and not to be down just one goal but two goals,’ Cavicchia said. ‘But our guys bounced back.’

It started in the 70th minute. With Syracuse trailing 2-0, Woodruff found Spencer Schomaker all alone on the left side of the goal. The senior put it past the Louisville goalkeeper to get SU on the board.

‘We knew we could come back,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘It’s the third goal syndrome. The third goal of the game, especially when it’s 2-0, puts a lot of pressure on the opposing team. And we didn’t stop. We knew we could win this game.’

Head coach Dean Foti felt the tide change, even as his team still trailed in the game 2-1.

‘In a two-goal game the third goal is always really important,’ Foti said. Whoever gets the third goal has all the momentum.’

A number of times, the Cardinals had the opportunity to capture the third goal but couldn’t convert the opportunity.

The deficit forced Foti to place offensive pressure onto the Cardinals’ end. The Orange left three defenders back along with Cavicchia in an all-out offensive push, which created scoring opportunities for the Cardinals.

In the 62nd minute, Louisville took advantage. Cardinals junior forward Gerardo Chavez had Cavicchia to beat, but elected to cross it to in front of the net. Louisville’s Bryan Kanu deflected it by Cavicchia, but the ball hit the left post of the goal.

About four minutes later, Cardinals freshman forward Brent Rosendall was streaking up the left side of the field. Rosendall set up Chavez on the right side with an open look at the net, but he couldn’t convert the opportunity.

‘What a great job our back three did today,’ SU senior Schomaker said. ‘Pete Hill, (Brien) Chamney, Karol (Wasielewski), and Rob (Cavicchia), they had a whole onslaught of guys coming at them and then diffused every one of them. It says a lot when you’ve only got three back there.’

That determination paid off. Perevegyencev tied the game in the 78th minute off a corner. Isaac Collings took the corner on the right side of the net, dishing it to Kyle Hall. Hall redirected it back to Collings, who crossed it to the left side for Perevegyencev to head it home.

Then Schomaker, the same person who ignited the Orange offense for its first goal, jump started the game-winner. Schomaker found Woodruff streaking into the center of the box for the game-winning header in overtime.

That cued a wild Orange celebration for Syracuse and its seniors, even if it was technically a meaningless game.

‘Leading up to this game I’m not going to lie, I was kind of sad,’ Cavicchia said. ‘It was tough, but this win just makes it feel so much better. It’s one of the greatest comebacks I’m going to say in the four years I’ve been here and probably in my whole life. Amazing. Best feeling in the world.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on November 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm