HAMILTON — For the second consecutive week, the Colgate men's lacrosse team registered a major victory as the 12th-ranked Raiders stunned No. 2 Syracuse, 12-11, on Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium.
The loss snapped the Orange's 10-game winning streak, its longest since 1994. With the regular season completed, SU (12-2) will find out its destination and opponent for the NCAA tournament when the 16-team field is announced at 9 p.m. today on ESPNU.
Matt Lalli led all scorers with three goals and four assists for Colgate (11-5), which built a 9-5 lead after three quarters. Syracuse staged a furious rally, however, and Dan Hardy's second goal of the game pulled the Orange within a goal with just over six minutes left in regulation.
Watertown's Kenny Nims set up fellow native Greg Niewieroski for a goal in front of the cage to trim Colgate's lead to 12-11 with 29 seconds remaining. Niewieroski tied a team high with two goals.
Nims had one last chance to force overtime, but his shot attempt was deflected by Raiders goalie Tim Harrington as time expired. Harrington finished with 16 saves.
The Raiders held a distinctive advantage over the Orange since SU senior faceoff specialist Danny Brennan couldn't play due to a muscle pull in his leg. Brennan entered the game with the nation's best faceoff winning percentage (67.1).
Brennan's replacements — senior John Carrozza and freshman Jovan Miller — were no match for Colgate's Chris Eck at the "X." Eck won 17 of 25 faceoffs for the Raiders. Colgate also gobbled up 34 ground balls to SU's 24.
The Raiders will enter the postseason on the rise, especially after winning its first Patriot League title and capturing an automatic bid to the tournament over a week ago. Colgate defeated Syracuse for the second straight year; a feat the Raiders hadn't accomplished since 1963-64.
Syracuse senior attacker Mike Leveille collected a team-best three points on two goals and one assist. That extended the Delmar native's point streak to 53 consecutive games. He also passed former Carthage standout Josh Coffman for 15th on SU's all-time scoring list with 196 points.
