Division I Men :      May 27, 2000 [ The Game Story]
Johns Hopkins 12 Syracuse 14 Scoring: Scoring: Aj Haugen Dan Denihan Adam Doneger Rob Frattarola Tim Muir Conor Denihan Pj Diconza (5, 0) (1, 3) (2, 2) (2, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) Liam Banks Ryan Powell Mike Springer Chris Cercy Josh Coffman Tim Byrnes Marshall Abrams Matt Caione (3, 3) (3, 2) (3, 1) (2, 0) (1, 1) (1, 1) (0, 1) (1, 0) Saves: Saves: Brian Carcaterra 9  (0.391) Rob Mulligan 14  (0.538) Current Record :     (9-4) Current Record :     (14-1) Team Page For 2000 Team Page For 2000       The Game Story:

The Cuse faceoff crew opened the game with a quick clamp and rake by Cercy. After a turnover by Liam Banks by a pumped Blue Jay D, the Hop turned it over on the clear. The Jitters were evident. On their first settled possession, Cuse went to Coffman who iso'd on the wing. But his cover checked his bottom hand on the shot for the turnover. Hop went on settled O with 12:57 to go but Marshall Abrams stripped Justin Shaberly and Cuse went on a fast break the other way. At 11:45, Powell was called for a retaliation hold after his head was driven to the turf by Carcaterra. At 11:17, Hop's Dan Denihan tried to sneak around the left pipe for a back hand, no dice. At 11:03, at even strength, Denihan made the same move but finished conservatively over Mulligans left shoulder, 1-0 Hopkins. At 10:54, Hop won the face and PJ DiConza fed Tom Bloomer on the crease putting the Hop up 2-0 in seconds. Players were falling all over the slick field for the next 2 minutes, with turnovers by both teams. Finally at 9:04, Cuse went on the board when Banks got a look at the top right restraining line. He drove in and fed Powell for a underhand, high to low crank that caught the upper right corner to make it 2-1 Hop. At 7:56, Cuse's Mulligan made a solid save on a hard driving Shaberly's bouncer from up top. Cuse went on O and got the ball to Powell who was stripped by a back rap check. Cuse got the gb, but turned it over. The Cuse offense was trying to set high picks to free up shots, but the Hop D was just passing them off effectively.

At 4:58, a wide open Powell dipped and dunked off a feed from Liam Banks to tie it up, 2-2. Cuse won the face, and Chris Cercy made it 3-2 on a quick bounce shot that surprised Carcaterra at 4:49. At 4:41, Donneger released out of the attack zone and absolutely leveled Cuse's Sam Bassett as the 2 went head to head for the ground ball. The crowd went nuts, Donneger picked up the ball, and Hop called a timeout to savor the momentum of the hit. At 4:21, Cuse's d-middie Joe Ceglia tried to go over the head and got called for the hold. After 2 shots went wide, at 3:50, Haugen let go an overhand crank from up top from Denihan to tie it up. It appeared that the Hop offense was not shy about letting 90 mph shots go from all over the field. At 2:24, Hopkins' Rob Frattarola went on a sweep down the left wing from up top, and stuck a high bouncer on the run in the upper right corner, 4-3 Hop. The Hop won the face and went on O once again. Hop was dominating possession but Syracuse was taking advantage of the transition game, as Liam Banks was fed by Tim Byrnes on a fast break to tie it up with a minute to go. 7 seconds later, Cercy raked the face to himself and scored his second goal of the game, and third of the year to make it 5-4 Cuse and the flip flop quarter ended. The faceoffs were 5-5.

At 14:19, Caione made it 6-4 split dodging from up top and finishing on the run in the lower right corner. Alternating turnovers followed, and AJ Haugen waltzed up the field with Tim Byrnes respecting his quickness by giving him 7 feet of space. As he got about 5 yards in the box, he let go an overhand 90mph + missle that beat Mulligan offside hip summoning gasps from the crowd. After Cuse's Byrnes got stripped on attack, Hop went on O again. After reversing the ball movement with a skip pass around x, D Denihan found Haugen for an overhand crank from 15 feet to tie it up. Cuse won the face, and Coffman iso'd from the wing, roll dodged to leave his cover on the ground, and finished off hip at 10 and change to make it 7-6 Cuse. Cuse won the face, and finally got the ball to Powell who drew a push on an inside roll on the right pipe at 9 and change. To this point, the Hop's Brandon Testa had the edge on the power contest. After Springer drove hard from behind he dumped it to Banks who converted it at 8:49 beating Carcaterra five hole on a low side arm, 8-6 Cuse. At 5:18, Mulligan made a kick save one on one with Hopkins' Bobby Benson and Cuse cleared it. Although Springer was matched up with a short stick, he made no effort to get the ball, and Cuse called a timeout with 4:05 to go.

The rain was coming down hard at this point, and players were falling over the place. At 3:22, Cuse's Ceglia was called for a hit from behind. At 2:35, Conor Denihan converted on a crank from the right wing that trickled through Mulligan's five hole, 8-7 Cuse. Cuse got the ball but played excellent physical defense forcing a hard driving Coffman to toss it out of bounds with just over a minute left. After a timeout, Hop went on O for the last shot of the half. Haugen took a wicked bounce shot from 18 yards out that hit the bottom of the cross bar, but no goal. The teams emptied the sidelines and jogged across the field to the locker room to talk it over. Hopkins appeared to be dominating the midfield, groundballs and had a clear physical edge. They were also getting great looks at the cage and the unbashful Haugen looked like a shark picking his spots. Cuse nursed a 1 goal lead, solely for the fact that they cashed in on their transition opportunities. Powell handled the ball no more than 2 times in the second quarter and the Hopkins defense seemed to have a knack for staying on their feet on the soaked field.

Cuse won the second half face. At 14:09, Matt Caione dummy dodged from top left drawing a slide by Hopkins; Brendan Shook. He moved it to Banks at x who one-timed it to Springer on the crease for the quick stick to make it 9-7, Cuse. At 13:06, the Hop's Shaberly got called for a dumb hit from behind as Cuse's John Glatzel tried to clear it. At 12:04 Carc made and awesome off-hip save but Cuse tracked it down. After another off-hip save on Springer, the Hop's Shook was called for another flag at 11:39. Cuse's Tom Hardy got a good look but missed the cage and the Hop legged it out for possession. At 10:18, Hop called an early timeout as they were stranded at midfield and about to turn it over again. It turned out to be a good timeout however, as Haugen connected for his fourth at 9:57 driving left, rolling and immediately letting one go righty from 18 yards up top, 9-8 Cuse. At 9:23, the refs made a horrible call, mistaking a Carc oscar winning flop for a Powell retaliation. Everyone in the stands saw the flop and let it be known. Cuse forced a turnover and Coffman was able to kill the majority of it until he was stripped by Testa. Testa gathered the ball and threw a cross field buddy pass to John Brasko as Powell's penalty expired. Powell released to line him up and crush him as the ball sailed over his stick. Another flag, and Hopkins players started taunting the Cuse sideline. The Hop threw away another opportunity however, and Cuse was able to kill it off. At 6:31, Abrhams was called for a push on Donneger who was holding the defensemen's stick as they went for a gb. Believe it or not, it was another acting job. Mulligan made a save and Cuse went the other way and drew a flag on Testa for an on the head brush. It was beginning to look like an NBA game with the refs messing with the tempo and getting nervous about makeup calls. Finally, at 4:30, Cuse's St. George stripped Hopkins' Doneger and went on a fast break. Abrhams legged it across midfield and found Banks on the crease to make it 10-8 Cuse. Hop answered right back as D Denihan fed Doneger on the wing who hard cradled through a check from top right and finished high to high to make it 10-9. Cuse won the face and was denied by a cat-like Carc. But at 2:36, Springer gathered the loose ball, pumped 3 times and dumped it in from 10 feet out past a diving Carc. At 2:03, Donneger blew a 4-2 break by shooting it over the net instead of banging it back to Haugen, the originator of the break. The game was seesawing, with turnovers, transition, and ground balls dominating the momentum. At 1:24, Hop's Jamie Hubbard was found by Donneger on the crease to cut the lead to 1, 11-10 Cuse. The third quarter ended with both teams locked in an intense battle, and everyone on the edge of their seats.

As the fourth quarter started, both teams' sidelines were jumping up and down. After reversing the ball rotation, Cuse made it 12-10 when Liam Banks fed Powell cross crease who teased Carc with numerous fakes, finally finishing over his head at 11:31. After a minute of unsettled play and strong defense by Hopkins, Haugen found himself alone on the right wing. He iso'd baseline with his left hand, played now you see it now you don't, rolled righty and finished high to high to make it 12-11 with a flag on Ceglia, at 10:03. After both teams sensed that the game hung in the balance, they took care of the ball and played conservative 2 minute possessions. Both goalies were strong with their defense limiting shot opportunities to 15 yards. At 4:53, the Hop's Tim Muir tied it up on the run. The game would go back and forth with sloppy play, and rushed shots by Hopkins until 2 penalities were called on Cuse at 3:58 and 3:18. Mulligan came up huge, however, easily saving C Denihan's crank from 12 yards out on the right wing. Cuse's Kevin Kelley cleared it and moved it to Powell. With Coach Desko jumping up and down on the sideline behind him, Powell tucked his stick ran through 2 defenders, dumped to Springer who elevated his 6'4" frame and dumped it over the 5'8" Carcaterra to make it 13-12 Cuse on the man down goal at 2:23. After another Mulligan save, Cuse cleared it and called a timeout at :54 to go. Who are the best ball handlers on Cuse? Powell, Springer, Banks, Byrnes, Coffman and Caione would take the field to leg out the clock. Caione took the ball first and swept left to right across the top. After drawing a double he dumped it to Powell in the bottom right corner who swept right to left acrosse the back. After drawing a double he reversed it to Byrnes who came around the corner to finish diving at :20 to go, 14-12 Cuse.