Syracuse In OT 11th NCAA Lacrosse Title
This was an example of why lacrosse is a beautiful game. Underdog Cornell handled Syracuse for most of the day, leading 9-6 late in the fourth. The hot weather seemingly caught up to the Big Red or the second-seeded defending national champ Orangemen got hot.
Cornell coach Steve Tambroni will kick himself on how he managed this. With a three-goal lead with 3:40 left in the game Cornell began to falter. Syracuse came with its expected push and Cornell had no answer. Even under fire for the last three minutes, things appeared to be okay for the Red after allowing Cuse to 9-8, and receiving a lucky turnover with 27 seconds left. But a brain freeze occurred on the field and sideline as Cornell defensemen Matt Moyer couldn’t handle or cheap the ball ahead and his coach Steve Tambroni didn’t use his final timeout.
Syracuse turned the ball over and All American Matt Abbott somehow lobbed in front of the net to the nation’s leading scorer Kenny Nims, who scored the tying, and his only goal of the day, with 4 seconds left. Abbott’s pass deflected off Cornell’s Roy Lang’s stick and could have easily been redirected in any direction, but it fell to Nims’ stick in front of goalie Jake Myers.
In Sudden Victory, Syracuse defensemman Sid Smith poked checked Ryan Hurley to force a turnover and clear to Abbott. Abbott circulated the ball around the net where attackman Cody Jamieson sank the winner with 2:40 left in the 4 minute OT.
First off, Moyer completely shut down Nims. If you want to pin the L on somebody, Moyer doesn’t deserve that honor (even if he should have cheaped that final clear). Although I feel bad saying this as he was by far the best at what he did for 117 minutes this past weekend, Tambroni deserves the blame.
No timeout on that Moyer clear? No timeout after Glynn wins yet another FO in OT? Both are forgivable considering how he trusted his players up until that point.
No, my issue is Tambroni switching to a zone with 3 minutes left of a national championship. Classic overcoaching. Man to man was doing just fine. Then he ordered the zone where SU rattles off 4 consecutive to steal the title. As an ex player, very difficult physically and mentally to change on a dime from man to zone. This “adjustment”, although intended to mess with the ‘Cuse’s mojo, only backfired. Got to feel bad for a guy like Glynn who almost single handedly willed his team to an upset win.