2008 NCAA Lacrosse Championships: A Year of Triumphs and Records
The year saw remarkable achievements and memorable moments across Division I and Division III men's and women's lacrosse. This article delves into the details of the 2008 NCAA lacrosse championships, highlighting the key games, outstanding players, and record-breaking attendance that defined the year.
Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
The 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship marked the 27th annual tournament to crown the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse.
Northwestern's Dominance
Northwestern emerged victorious, defeating Penn with a score of 10-6. This win secured their fourth national championship overall and their fourth consecutive title, solidifying their dominance in the sport. Hilary Bowen from Northwestern was the tournament's leading scorer, showcasing her exceptional talent with 23 goals.
Tournament Structure and Attendance
A total of 16 teams were invited to participate in the single-elimination tournament. The championship game was held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, attracting a crowd of 48,970 fans. The first round took place on May 10-11 at the home fields of the top-seeded teams, while the quarterfinals were held on May 17-18 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, and Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York. The semifinals and finals culminated on Memorial Day weekend.
Selection Process
The Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Committee was responsible for selecting the teams that competed in the championship tournament. The qualifying teams and their seeding were announced on Sunday, May 4, 2008. Seven conferences received automatic bids for their top teams, with five conferences holding a tournament championship to award their bids and two awarding bids based on regular-season conference records. Cornell received the Ivy League's automatic bid.
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Upset in the First Round
An unseeded Ohio State team delivered a stunning upset, defeating #8 Cornell with a score of 15-7.
Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship featured intense competition and memorable performances, culminating in Syracuse University's victory.
Quarterfinal Records
The quarterfinals, held on the weekend of May 17 and May 18, saw record-breaking attendance. On Saturday, 17,017 people attended the quarterfinals at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, setting an attendance record for the quarterfinal round of the lacrosse championships.
Quarterfinal Match Highlights
In Annapolis, fans witnessed Johns Hopkins defeat Navy 10-4, with Navy being held without a goal for both the second and third quarters. The other game in Annapolis saw Maryland face Virginia in an overtime thriller. Syracuse faced Virginia in a game where Syracuse's Mike Leveille scored five goals, including a goal with 3:00 remaining to send the game into overtime. Syracuse's Junior midfielder Matt Abbott tallied three goals in the second half for his first career hat trick to spark to second half rally. Extra possessions earned by face-off specialist Danny Brennan, including both opportunities in the overtime periods and 70% total for the game, helped the Orange stage the comeback. Virginia scoring was led by Danny Glading with three goals and one assist, while Garret Billings scored two goals.
Semifinal Showdowns
Johns Hopkins defeated Duke 10-9 in the second game of the Final Four doubleheader. Hopkins controlled the deliberate tempo of the game, and held a 4-2 lead going into halftime. In fourth quarter, the speed of the game accelerated as Duke began to push offensively. Johns Hopkins goaltender Michael Gvozden was up to the task.
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Championship Game: Syracuse vs. Johns Hopkins
On Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, Syracuse defeated Johns Hopkins in the national championship game with a score of 13-10. The game was played in front of 48,970 fans at Gillette Stadium.
Syracuse's Victory
Syracuse's victory marked their first national championship since 2004 and their 10th NCAA title overall. The Syracuse University Orange were later honored at the White House by President George W. Bush.
Game Dynamics
The championship game saw Hopkins trailing just 9-8 after Paul Rabil's fourth goal of the game with 4:17 remaining in the third quarter, but Syracuse scored the next four to push out to a five-goal lead. Dan Hardy opened the run as he swept in from the side and lifted a left-handed shot into the top right corner of the goal just 28 seconds after Rabil's tally. Neither team scored over the next six minutes, but the Orange struck for three straight in a span of just over four minutes in the fourth quarter to take control. Kenny Nims broke the ice after the six-minute scoreless stretch as he took a pass from behind the goal from Mike Leveille and had time to lock-and-load before ripping home his second goal of the game. Back-to-back goals in a span of just 10 seconds midway through the period effectively put the game away for the Orange. Brendan Loftus ended an extended Syracuse possession as he picked the near post on an ally dodge with 8:25 remaining. The Blue Jays won the ensuing faceoff, but turned the ball over and Leveille easily beat Gvozden from in front after taking a pass from behind the goal.
The Blue Jays sliced the five-goal deficit to 13-10 with a pair of goals by Rabil in the final seven minutes - he ended the game with a career-high six goals and tied his career-best with seven points - but Syracuse eventually took possession with just under a minute remaining and ran out the clock to secure its first national championship since 2004.
A fast-paced first half saw the Blue Jays build a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, only to have Syracuse fight back to take a 6-5 lead at intermission. The deficit may been larger if not for the play of Gvozden, who posted 14 of his career-high 20 saves in the first half.
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Rabil opened the scoring with an unassisted goal on ally dodge as he blew a left-handed laser past John Galloway to polish off a long possession for the Blue Jays. That lead held for just over three minutes before the Orange got going with an extra man goal by freshman Stephen Keogh. Keogh scooped up a loose ball after an original shot had been deflected and went behind-the-back to put SU on the board.
Rabil gave the Blue Jays a one-goal lead with 5:13 remaining as he took advantage of miscommunication in the Syracuse defense and beat Galloway from 10 yards out. The three goals scored in the first 14 minutes of the first half were then matched in a 25-second span late in the period as Hopkins sandwiched a pair of goals around an SU tally in the final 35 seconds.
Senior Kevin Huntley tied JHU's career NCAA goal-scoring mark (a mark that Rabil would eventually surpass with his six-goal effort) when he scored from the doorstep in transition after Gvozden stuffed Leveille from in tight at the other end. Syracuse faceoff specialist Danny Brennan scored the first goal of his career 6.1 seconds later as he won the faceoff after Huntley's goal cleanly and beat Gvozden from seven yards out. A faceoff win by the Blue Jays followed Brennan's goal and Stephen Boyle dodged from behind the goal and beat Galloway and a late slide from in close.
Syracuse took advantage of miscommunication on the Blue Jay defensive zone to slice the deficit to 4-3 as Joel White found Keogh alone in front while the Blue Jays were checking up and he fired one home from five yards out with 9:01 on the first half clock.
A five-star save from Gvozden with 8:10 remaining jump-started a transition opportunity for the Blue Jays that freshman Kyle Wharton cashed in on with 7:59 remaining. Gvozden stuffed Keogh from two yards away after a Blue Jay turnover and quickly worked the ball up field and sophomore Michael Kimmel found Wharton to give Hopkins a 5-3 lead.
The Orange closed the first half with a 3-0 run to build the 6-5 lead at the half. Kenny Nims made the Blue Jays pay for a turnover while playing with the extra man as Leveille came up with a loose ball behind the JHU goal and fed Nims out in front, where he had time and room to shot before finding the back of the net.
Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2008 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship showcased the competitive spirit and talent within Division III lacrosse.
Tournament Overview
The tournament was held from May 10 through May 25, marking the 29th annual Division III NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament.
Championship Match
The tournament culminated with the finals held on Memorial Day weekend at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The championship featured a third consecutive meeting between Cortland State Red Dragons and Salisbury Sea Gulls. The Sea Gulls victory sealed their 20th straight appearance, 26th overall in the NCAA Division III tournament, and capped of an undefeated season.
CAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2008 CAA Men's Lacrosse Championship was marked by thrilling games and exceptional performances, adding to the excitement of the lacrosse season.
Hofstra's Victory Over Drexel
Junior Tom Dooley scored just 11 seconds into overtime, after the Pride rallied from two goals down with two minutes to play in regulation, as Hofstra captured the CAA title with a 10-9 victory over No. 11 Drexel at Vidas Field Saturday night. It is Hofstra’s second CAA Championship and its ninth conference title overall. The Pride, who improved to 10-5 on the season, get the CAA’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament that begins next Saturday, May 10.
Game Highlights
After a 5-5 deadlock at halftime and Hofstra senior middie Michael Unterstein tying the game at 7-all 54 seconds into the fourth quarter, off a pass from Muscarella, the Dragons scored goals 12 seconds apart to take a 9-7 lead with 12:40 to play in regulation. The score remained that way as the clock ticked down inside two minutes. But Muscarella brought the Pride back to within one when he trickled a shot past Drexel goalie and CAA Player of the Year Bruce Bickford, off a pass from Card, with 1:18 to play.
Montemurro won the ensuing face-off and, after a Hofstra timeout, sophomore Dan Stein picked up a loose ball in front of the crease and fired it high into the cage to tie the game at 9-9 with 51 seconds to play in regulation. In the overtime, Montemurro won the face-off with Steve Prifte picking up the loose ball. Prifte fed Card, who passed to Dooley, who fired from the left side of Bickford from eight yards for his 26th goal of the season and the ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Memorable Quotes
“This game showed that this team has a lot of character,” Pride head coach Seth Tierney said, “They never quit and I am awfully proud of these guys.”
Game Dynamics
Like their regular season match-up on March 29 that ended with Drexel winning, 9-8 in double overtime, Saturday’s contest was another thriller. The Pride jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Michael Unterstein opened the scoring on an unassisted goal with 3:54 to play in the first quarter. It was his 16th of the season. Muscarella scored the first of his four on the day and the 24th of the season less than two minutes later, and made it 3-0 just 1:03 into the second period, off a pass from Colleluori. But Colin Ambler put Drexel on the board 13 seconds later off a pass from Scott Perri. Michael Unterstein boosted the Pride lead to 4-1 less than three minutes later before the Dragons tallied three goals in 1:32 to tie the contest. First, Ron Garling tallied a man-up goal with 4:38 to play in the half. Ambler then scored his second of the evening and 21st of the year 27 seconds later, and Joe Wojciechowski tied it at 4-all with 3:06 remaining. The Pride looked like they would have a 5-4 lead at halftime after Card fed Colleluori for his 10th goal of the year with 43 seconds to play. But Dragon junior Kevin Dart fired a bullet past Orlando with one second to play in the half to tie the contest at 5-5.
Muscarella completed his third hat-trick of the season 3:42 into the second half off a feed from Colleluori to give Hofstra a 6-5 advantage. But Drexel responded with goals from Scott Perri and Greg Casey, the latter a man-up tally, to give the Dragons a 7-6 lead with 5:11 to play in the third. Heading into the fourth quarter Michael Unterstein tied the game at 7-all 54 seconds in off a pass from Muscarella. But Perri and Dennis Murray scored 12 seconds apart to give the Dragons a 9-7 lead with 12:40 to play in regulation and setting up the final two minute heroics.
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