PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Maybe Syracuse planned it this way. Maybe it figured it was a nice day and a holiday weekend and the Rutgers crowd could use some excitement. Maybe a thrilling final-minute win against Cornell on Tuesday didn’t provide enough heartache and only an overtime game in the final seconds could top it.

But SU men’s lacrosse found a way to outdo itself. There are too many labels to use for the win that the description would be the length of an article. The condensed version: Syracuse (5-4) fell into an early deficit, came from behind, started to put the game out of reach, surrendered the lead only to top Rutgers (5-5), 13-12, in overtime in front of 2,539 at Yurcak Field.

And it wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill goal. It was a Mike Leveille, beat-the-buzzer heartbreaker with three seconds left in regulation, causing a mass pile of blue-and-orange shirts and frustration and confusion from the scarlet-and-white shirts.

‘Mike Leveille had missed a couple in third and fourth quarter, we liked his matchup and we just wanted to get him up top so he can dodge down the side,’ Syracuse head coach John Desko said. ‘We’ve found ourselves in similar situations where we’ve panicked and forced things, but in this situation, we were just more composed.’ Leveille’s two goals were among SU’s seven second-half goals and 11 after the first quarter. Senior Brett Bucktooth and graduate student Joe Yevoli both added three goals while freshman Kenny Nims also netted a pair. SU needed all the offense after the first eight minutes.

An 8 a.m. class starts with more life than the Orange on Saturday, when it was trailing Rutgers, 4-0, before fans were able to finish their hot dogs.

John Desko called a timeout a little over seven minutes into the game, directly after Rutgers scored its fourth goal. The Orange responded with two goals and four of the next five. It entered halftime trailing, 7-6, but the four-goal difference in the first quarter represented the largest deficit since it was behind Johns Hopkins by seven goals on March 18.

‘We didn’t come ready to play, and it showed,’ Nims said. ‘We just weren’t ready. And when you’re 4-4, you can’t come out like that.’

Desko said the team was feeling the hangover of three games in eight days, a stretch which included the draining win against Cornell and a key victory over Princeton on April 1.

But a four-goal deficit in the first quarter for Syracuse’s offense isn’t as much a problem as it is a challenge. It was like a cheap horror movie, where the Scarlet Knights were about to slip out of the Orange’s room with a ransom before the giant woke up and devoured the thief. Once SU flicked on its switch, the explosion continued for two quarters. But not three.

SU had its own four-goal lead after Steve Babbles scored with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Orange figured it could play wisely, maintaining possession and leave with a winning record. But a funny thing happened on the way to the New Jersey Turnpike: SU showed little aggressiveness and made foolish turnovers, while Rutgers had this inkling it could end the game with the same four-goal spurt it started with.

‘We weren’t trying to stall it. We were just trying to make really good decisions,’ Desko said. ‘But we had a few guys go for the goal a little bit too quickly and take ill-advised shots, and it gave Rutgers opportunities.’

With 12 seconds left in regulation, Rutgers attackman Tad Stanwick put the game-tying goal past SU goalie Pete Coluccini, who had 10 saves, four of which came in the Scarlet Knights’ aggressive fourth quarter.

It set up the decisive overtime, which was even more possession-oriented than the fourth quarter. SU’s only shot was Leveille’s game-winner.

‘I was just like, ‘Thanks, Mike, that’s why you’re one of my best friends’,’ Coluccini said. ‘I just went over there and gave him hug. He’s one of the guys on offense who get the ball in the back of the net when it counts.’

Leveille said he didn’t know how much time was on the clock, just that he needed to release the ball quickly. But he knew how big his shot was and he knew how important the win was. Like SU battled on Saturday from a 4-0 deficit, it’s battled back from a 1-4 start. A loss to Rutgers would have been a difficult setback. Leveille helped ensure it didn’t happen.

‘We didn’t want to lose another game here,’ Leveille said. ‘We got back over .500. But at the same time, it’s no time to take anyone lightly. There’s still a lot to do and we have to get back to work.’

Published on April 14, 2006 at 12:00 pm