Brendan Loftus wanted to go home. The physical play, the missed shots, the makes or breaks over the course of a lacrosse game. It wears on you.

So when the Syracuse senior midfielder ended it all by scoring the game-winning goal for a 9-8 victory over No. 9 Georgetown in double overtime before 4,921 in the Carrier Dome on Sunday, there was plenty of relief – even if some didn’t see it.

Syracuse head coach John Desko only knew his team won when his players rushed onto the field after Loftus’ shot flew past Georgetown goalie Miles Kass. SU goalie John Galloway jumped up in the air and finally let out a deep breath during a game where he felt his heart pumping out of his chest.

Yes, it was that kind of game, because No. 5 Syracuse only led after Loftus’ score. Before that, the Orange struggled to find an offensive rhythm because of Kass (19 saves) and a poor shooting percentage (8-of-57). All of this came into play despite SU winning overwhelmingly on faceoffs (17-of-21) and on groundballs (57-26).

‘That was a hell of a shot (Loftus) made,’ Georgetown coach Dave Urick said. ‘I couldn’t get a good angle. But there’s no way a goalie is going to save that shot.’

It took a player like Loftus, a senior who saw a limited role before starting on the first midfield line this year, to bail Syracuse out by throwing a high shot after noticing Kass stopping low ones. Loftus led Syracuse with a career-high four goals – a feat that Desko appreciated after observing his selfless work ethic despite a limited role the past four years.

But Desko and his players were also smiling afterwards because SU hasn’t experienced a 3-1 record since its 2004 championship team. With a full head of momentum, Syracuse goes to No. 1 Johns Hopkins, which was recently upset by Hofstra, on Saturday.

‘We started off flat,’ Loftus said. ‘But this is going to be a huge momentum swing coming into Johns Hopkins next week.’

Georgetown (1-2) went scoreless for the last five minutes in the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter. GU midfielder Max Seligmann ended the drought when he shot a high shot in the left corner past Galloway for an 8-7 lead with 1:42 remaining.

‘I think I’m going to have some gray hairs pretty soon,’ joked Galloway, who currently has a shaved head. ‘I can’t do that anymore.’

But with 16 seconds remaining, Syracuse defenseman Kyle Guadagnolo cleared the ball to SU attackman Mike Leveille. He fought through two defenders and saw midfielder Steven Brooks, who forced overtime against Virginia last week.

‘I saw a look in his eyes,’ Brooks said of Leveille. ‘His eyes lit up and he gave me the pass. I could’ve sworn it was going to get deflected. But I knew right when I caught it, I had to shoot from wherever I was from.’

The shot went low and right between Kass’ legs with two seconds left to force extra regulation.

‘If there’s one guy you want to shoot it at the end of the game, he’s one of them,’ Leveille said. ‘When he buried that, it was a huge sigh of relief. It gave us momentum going into overtime.’

Leveille never felt the Orange was going to lose, despite SU players, like himself, struggling on offense. Aside from Loftus’ goals, attackman Kenny Nims scored two goals and showed flashes of aggressiveness. Everyone else struggled converting on finishes near the doorstep.

Defensively, Syracuse tried to anticipate Georgetown’s long-range tendencies. The SU defense prepared for the Hoyas’ habits of spreading out the field and exploiting opportunities whenever possible. With Georgetown going 6-of-30 against Maryland two weeks ago, the Orange hoped it could lead GU to force shots and run an impatient offense.

Instead, GU ended halftime with a 5-3 lead. Midfielder Andrew Brancaccio and attackman Andrew Baird led the Hoyas with two goals apiece. Galloway, who finished with 10 saves, felt grateful he could depend on his offense to bail him out after giving up the potential game-winner with under two minutes remaining. The offense prevailed in the waning moments, unlike the majority of the game beforehand.

Now Syracuse is playing for a 4-1 record, hoping Johns Hopkins suffers another setback after an upset defeat against Hofstra this past weekend.

‘Even though we didn’t come out on top, I thought we played pretty well,’ Desko said. ‘Guys learned from that situation and here we are right back in that situation (like last week against Virginia). We were able to turn it over and get the win today.’

mgmedina@syr.edu

Published on March 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm