PHILADELPHIA – The 19th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team had No. 7 Syracuse doubled up late in the third quarter, but the Orange chipped away at the lead to get all the way back level and then—after a tense, scoreless final 9:45 in the fourth quarter—Michael Leo provided the heroics just 36 seconds into overtime to give SU the comeback, 9-8 victory at Franklin Field.
Penn (2-3) lost both games of this weekend's ACC/Ivy Challenge but certainly made an impression, falling by a combined three goals to No. 2 North Carolina and No. 7 Syracuse (4-2).
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn outshot Syracuse on Sunday, 39-30, and doubled up the Orange on the face-off X (12-6) with
Mac Eldridge going 11-6.
*Junior
Davis Provost and freshman
Jackson Maher were Penn's only multi-goal scorers on Sunday, both finishing with two goals.
*Maher also had two assists for four points, which led the Quakers and tied for game-high honors.
*Senior
Griffin Scane saw his multi-goal streak end on Sunday, scoring just once, but he also had an assist for two points.
*Junior
Ben Beacham kept his goal-scoring streak alive with one on Sunday.
*Penn's other goal scorers were sophomore
Nate Lucchesi (his third this season) and senior
Matt McMillen (whose goal was his first as a collegian).
*At the other end, sophomore
Jack Pelot had another game above 50 percent as he made 10 stops while allowing just the nine goals.
*Sophomore
Dante Vardaro—who was assigned to 'Cuse All-American Joey Spallina—and junior
Matthew Till had two caused turnovers each.
*Spallina ended the day with four points, scoring once and dishing off three assists, while Leo also had a four-point day including the OT winner (2g/2a). Finn Thomson scored the only hat trick of the day by either team while Jimmy McCool made 10 stops in the Orange cage.
How It Happened
Syracuse opened the scoring a little more than three minutes into the contest, Thomson converting from a low angle after Penn had been called by an over-and-back. Provost matched that goal right at the nine-minute mark, but he did some extra chirping after the shot and was given a one-minute, non-releasable penalty. Syracuse took advantage and made it 2-1 with 12 seconds left in the penalty.
Maher tied it at 2-2 with a turnaround jumper from the right side, and less than a minute later Lucchesi gave the Quakers their first lead of the day when he got inside Syracuse's 6-on-4 defense, took a pass from Maher and fired a turnaround into the lower corner. The Orange got another EMO opportunity late in the period, however, and converted again to make it 3-3 after one.
SU got still another extra-man opportunity early in the second quarter—the Orange would have six on the day—and Ted Rawson finished a Spallina feed on the doorstep. However, just 36 seconds later McMillen surprised everyone when he charged to the cage and went cross-handed for his first collegiate tally to tie things at 4-4. Only one more goal came before halftime, and it was out of Scane's stick as the senior found an opening up top in Syracuse's man-down defense and finished a Maher feed. Penn led 5-4 at the break.
Beacham opened his account 34 seconds into the third, coming across the top from the right side and blistering a lefty shot past McCool, and nearly four minutes later Provost netted his second of the day when he beat his man charging in from the right side and then got his shot off before the help could slide to him. More than six minutes would go by, but Maher would make it 8-4 with 4:14 left in the third when Scane ran the ball behind the cage and found the freshman for a low-angle shot that he converted.
At that point, Syracuse had gone nearly 21 minutes without a goal, and it would be another 90 seconds before Spallina broke the skid with an unassisted tally. That gave the Orange life, and then Spallina fed Thomson on a give-and-go out of a loose ball situation for another goal with just 12 seconds left in the period. That made it a much more manageable 8-6 score as the teams headed to the final 15.
It looked like Penn might go back up by three early in the fourth, but a Provost goal on EMO was wiped out when he was called for being in the crease. Instead, Thomson completed his hat trick just 1:23 into the fourth, this time finishing a Wyatt Hottle feed, and then long pole Billy Dwan tied things up with 9:45 left when he got a pass on the doorstep from Leo and somehow managed to spin it home.
Things got tense after that, both teams having several chances with the ball but unable to find the winner. Instead, the teams went to overtime and the Cuse ended it quickly, winning the faceoff and Leo finding a hole in the Penn defense on the way to his winner.
Up Next
Penn is on the road for just the second time this season next Sunday, making the short trip out to the Main Line for its annual Farrell Cup matchup with Villanova. The Quakers and Wildcats are scheduled to face off at noon at Villanova Stadium.
For the latest on Penn men's lacrosse, follow @PennMensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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