Lacrosse: A Miracle Ends in OT
Written by Nolan Thomas, Friday May 29 2009
If Cornell had won the NCAA Lacrosse championship by beating Syracuse it would have been a certifiable miracle. Many thought that Big Red advancing to the championship round against the Orange was already worthy of being classified a miracle. Oftentimes, Hollywood endings remain in Hollywood. This was more of a Gillette Stadium ending that saw the favored and more talented Syracuse Orange end the upset plans of Cornell when they captured the D-1 title on Memorial Day.
Foxboro was the place to be on Monday if you follow NCAA lacrosse as the titles for divisions one, two and three were contested in front of over a combined 100,000 fans. Planning on that scale proved the NCAA had visions as large as those of Cornell. While their vision succeeded you can’t blame Cornell for trying to touch the stars. After all, they had the ingredients for a miraculous finish.
Big Red team manager Alex Cocoviello is a miracle in his own right. A horrible childhood accident resulting when his father struck him during his back swing with a golf club was diagnosed as permanently impairing. When doctors first examined the child his parents were told to expect the worse. In fact, the best they offered was permanent paralysis of the right side. His mother Sharon didn’t like that diagnosis and cared even less for the doctors’ defeatist attitude so she fired them. Determination like that is contagious and Alex rehabilitated and played lacrosse for Penn State. He transferred to Cornell and hoped to be on the field for Big Red but was injured and forced to sit out. He returned as the manager and everyone on the team feels his intensity is stronger than any player.
While it would have been a storybook ending for the team to conquer Syracuse and take the title, reality can be a cold cup of coffee. The Orange was too deep of a team and refused to capitulate, even when trailing late in regulation. The defending champions showed what it takes to repeat at any sport and settled in to play a fast paced game of catch up that ended regulation time with the score tied. They went on to defeat Cornell in OT and secure their fifth lacrosse title this decade.
Trailing after three quarters the Orange accomplished something that hadn’t been done since 1989 when they came back to take the match and the title. The last team to do it in ’89 was Syracuse. While this yeoman work certainly qualifies them as a lacrosse powerhouse, it should be noted that in five other occasions when trailing at the half of a championship match the Orange lost.
Cornell became the first Ivy League team since Princeton to reach the championship match. A dark horse throughout the tournament they seemed on their way to securing the title until Syracuse awakened and completed their historical comeback. With only seconds remaining in regulation Syracuse tied the contest and scored their 10th and decisive goal in OT.
Photo Credit: Michael Tureski / Icon SMI
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