FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – As John Desko embraced Kenny Nims on the field at Gillette Stadium, his son, Tim, dumped a bucket of Gatorade over his head.

Desko laughed. The SU head coach won a national championship – again.

Desko’s Orange won the 2009 national title, giving Syracuse back-to-back titles for the first time during Desko’s tenure at SU.

Syracuse’s 10-9 overtime thriller against Cornell Monday in the NCAA tournament final game made the Orange the first program in more than a decade to win consecutive national titles. Bill Tierney’s Princeton team won three straight from 1996-98. Syracuse had not won back-to-back championships since 1988-90 under former head coach Roy Simmons Jr. All five of Desko’s titles with Syracuse have come in this decade.

And there’s still one more year to go.

‘It wasn’t easy,’ Desko said of beating the odds becoming the first team to win two straight in so long. He described himself at ‘a loss for words’ at the post-game press conference.

Before the media frenzy, Desko hugged Tim on the field during the postgame celebration. John Desko smiled with pride as he congratulated Tim, a redshirt freshman who shared a starting role with attack Chris Daniello this season. Tim told his father they’d win more rings together, then coach Desko told his son to go find his mother.

After a turbulent four years with this group of seniors, ending their time at Syracuse with consecutive titles was ‘perfect,’ Desko said.

‘We have the best coaches in America,’ said Nims, who scored the game-tying goal in regulation and received the Most Outstanding Player award for the tournament. ‘They stick through us through thick and thin over the years. …They are our best friends and teach us everything we know. I can’t say enough good things about coach Desko and our staff.’

Senior Matt Abbott fed Nims the game-tying goal. Senior Dan Hardy fed Cody Jamieson the game-winning goal. It seemed fitting that the seniors who experienced the dismal 5-8 2007 season helped cement Desko’s first consecutive titles. The team that had the worst season in Syracuse lacrosse history also gave Desko the best two years in his tenure to date.

Before the game, the Syracuse team wore gray shirts with one word on the front: ‘legacy.’ And after the 2009 title registered as Desko’s fifth and the program’s record-breaking 11th, the word ‘legacy’ rang true. A legacy that Desko has helped create from being a player back in the late 1970s, to being an assistant coach under Simmons and now winning his fifth title as head coach.

‘It’s been a special group,’ Desko, the winningest coach in NCAA tournament history said. ‘I’ve known all these guys since they were young, seen them from a far, either coach or played with their fathers. It makes it that much more special for me. It’s great for them to go out this way and having another national championship in their senior year.’

Unlucky No. 4

Cornell midfielder Max Seibald said he’ll never forget it: being amid the chaos during the game-tying and game-winning goals Syracuse scored in Monday’s NCAA final game.

‘Four seconds away…,’ said Seibad, teary-eyed and choked up at the podium. ‘It seems to be a number that haunts us.’

When Seibald was a sophomore, ‘four’ was the number of seconds on the board when Duke scored on Cornell in the semifinal of the 2007 tournament to oust the Big Red. With four seconds remaining in regulation Monday, SU’s Matt Abbott found Kenny Nims to tie the game and send the matchup into overtime.

Four seconds longer and Cornell would have won the national title, but Syracuse’s late surge was too much for the Big Red to stop.

‘That makes it even tougher for us,’ Seibald said. ‘For the seniors, we’ve worked so hard the past four years. …We love each other. There’s a lot of emotion in that locker room right now. I’m proud of every one of them, and I wouldn’t trade this group of guys for a national championship.’

Galloway records second NCAA title win

John Galloway was thrown onto the national scene in 2008. The SU goalkeeper started every game his freshman year and led the Syracuse to its 10th national title.

Once the 2009 season began, Galloway said he heard the criticism about him and about the defense in front of him. But he kept working harder to improve.

‘Game in and game out, we kept saying people might not be able to do it again,’ Galloway said. ‘But a win’s a win. Doesn’t matter how you get it.’

Then, making 10 saves – the same as Cornell goalie Jake Myers – Galloway led the defense and his team to another national title, back-to-back. The 10-9 win over Cornell in the championship game gives Galloway a 32-4 overall record at Syracuse.

‘Two-for-two,’ Galloway said. ‘Not too bad.’

mkgalant@syr.edu

Published on May 25, 2009 at 12:00 pm