Senior Spencer Schomaker waved his teammates on the field over to huddle just outside the goalie box prior to the start of overtime.

In all likelihood this would be his and five other seniors’ last colligate game. ‘One-two-three ‘Cuse,’ echoed from the huddle as the players dispersed and took their positions.

‘The senior guys just got in and said, ‘Look, there’s 10-20 minutes left in our careers. You’ve just got to leave it all out there,” Schomaker said. ”Give everything you have. You can’t think about anything else. Just right now.”

The Orange seniors actually only had 2:36 left in their careers. That’s because Schomaker found Hansen Woodruff streaking toward the net for the game-winner.

Any hopes, though, of a trip to the Big East Tournament had already evaporated with a 1-0 loss Wednesday to Villanova. But even if the only meaning of the game was to send its seniors off in correct fashion, Syracuse wasn’t going to back down to No. 21 Louisville.

The deficit reached its peak after head coach Dean Foti assembled a huddle before the start of second half to motivate his players. Sixteen seconds into the half, SU trailed by two goals.

‘It was demoralizing, of course,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘You’re trying to score, you’re trying to press, to score as many goals as you can in the second half just to get back. But the great thing is, we played really maturely and didn’t put our heads down.’

It would have been easy for the Orange to let up. But after the Cardinal goal put Louisville up two, before the referees could placing the ball in the center circle, Cavicchia wouldn’t let his team and his fellow seniors pack it in.

‘A lot of the seniors on the field and the other guys on the field were working hard, they knew how bad we all wanted it,’ Cavicchia said. ‘Everyone wanted it so bad I knew I had to get on people, and see if I could bring the spirits up and come back. I had faith in our guys and we did it.’

Adding to the adversity was the fact that extra periods have not been friendly to SU. The Orange hadn’t won an overtime game this year. Syracuse’s last overtime win had come against Hartwick in October 2006.

The largest deficit it had overcome this year was one goal against Adelphi Oct. 21. The last time it had come back from a two-goal deficit was in 2006 in its second game of the season against Loyola.

But Loyola was not the 21st-ranked team in the nation. Down two goals in a game with no postseason ramifications, SU could have quit. At times it seemed that way as Louisville had numerous breakaway opportunities that would have crippled any comeback hopes.

‘They had their chances, but we kept our heads up and continued playing just like any other game,’ Perevegyencev said. ‘We wanted to win this game.’

Schomaker eased the Orange closer with the first goal, but only 20 minutes remained. The urgency was visible by forward Hansen Woodruff’s actions. While some of his teammates celebrated, Woodruff pulled the ball out of the net and ran it back to the center circle, forgetting the clock in college stops after a goal.

‘It’s natural reaction to go get the ball, you know, I didn’t think clock stops,’ Woodruff said. ‘… I mean I wasn’t super confident, but we were gaining momentum, and you know I figured if I push it we’ll keep getting chances and we’ll score.’

For the game-winner, rolls were reversed. Schomaker set up Woodruff with a cross over the middle for the sophomore to head in.

But even after the game, Woodruff and Schomaker continued to dish out the assists.

‘Just coming back from 2-0 down is huge,’ Schomaker said. ‘And to do it in the last game of our careers it just means a lot for everyone.’

‘Especially against a team like this,’ Woodruff added.

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on November 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm