STONY BROOK — With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter of the NCAA quarterfinals on Saturday between Syracuse and Johns Hopkins, SU head coach John Desko had a message for his players during a timeout: don’t let your lead slip away.

With a comfortable five-goal advantage, Syracuse found itself in a similar position as Hofstra was in the earlier quarterfinal matchup. Seeing Hofstra’s five-goal fourth quarter lead washed out in an eventual Massachusetts victory, the Orange had an undeniable example that yes, it could happen.

The Orange (10-4) didn’t allow a repeat of the first quarterfinal matchup didn’t occur, though, edging the Blue Jays (9-5), 13-12, in front of a sellout crowd of 8,335 at LaValle Stadium. The victory advances Syracuse to the semifinals in Philadelphia next Saturday, where it will meet either Virginia or Georgetown (the two play in a quarterfinal Sunday). It marks the 23rd final four Syracuse has reached in the past 24 season. Last year the Orange missed the semifinals after losing to UMass in the first round.

Syracuse had eight different players score goals; Mike Leveille led the group with four goals.

The Orange came close to letting its lead evaporate in a situation eerily similar to Hofstra’s only minutes earlier on the same turf. SU led by five goals with eight minutes left, but the lead shrunk to two with 3:11 remaining.

The drama didn’t stop after Johns Hopkins scored again with six seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one. The Blue Jays won the ensuing faceoff and flung a 30 yard shot at SU freshman goalie Pete Coluccini, who was able to make the save as the horn sounding the end of the game blew.

‘Fortunately we hung tough,’ Desko said. ‘They made a great run against us. We knew the Blue Jays wouldn’t quit.’

It was a scare for Syracuse as the Hopkins offense exploded late. The game seemed to be in hand for the Orange when it extended its 8-5 halftime lead to 12-7 midway through the fourth quarter. But each time a play happened that seemingly would slam the door shut on Hopkins, the Blue Jays continued to fight back.

After Hopkins cut into SU’s lead to make it 12-9, senior Brian Crockett had one of those ‘dagger’ plays, scoring on a high shot to give the Orange a four-goal lead with four minutes left. But the Blue Jays didn’t quit, and with the talent that was capable of topping the Orange in March, they fought back.

‘Any good team is going to make a run,’ said senior Brett Bucktooth, who scored two goals and had two assists. ‘They aren’t going to just lay down and get kicked.’

While the Blue Jays fought back to nearly tie Syracuse, it was a fitting way for a playoff game to end for SU. Not much has been smooth for the Orange, which started the season 1-4 and lost four key starters to injuries. During its four game losing streak earlier in the season, Syracuse fell victim to Hopkins, 14-9, on March 18. But this Orange team is not the same it was that day in March. After losing two more games, SU came together, found its swagger and has since tallied nine straight wins to burst into the NCAA semifinals.

‘It’s great just to have the opportunity to be playing.’ Desko said. ‘At 1-4, it seemed like a new injury every week to a new player. This is a tremendous opportunity.’

This victory, like many this season, didn’t come easy. Although it seemed the Orange might put the game away early, a frantic comeback by the Blue Jays scrapped that idea. Hopkins also dominated the stat sheet, outshooting SU, grabbing more ground balls and winning 21 of 29 faceoffs. The fourth quarter favored Hopkins even more.

Not only did the Blue Jays score five of the last six goals, but they outshot the Orange 19-6, picked up 13 ground balls to SU’s three, and won eight of nine faceoffs.

One would think Hopkins might have triumphed by glancing at the stat sheet, but the big five-goal second quarter provided SU what it needed.

‘The biggest difference was the first half for us,’ Desko said. ‘We had some good possessions on offense but didn’t make some shots. Then in the end of the first period and second period we started making those shots. With that advantage at halftime we were feeling a lot better about ourselves.’

The advantage was just enough to keep the Hopkins out of reach, even though the distance between the two became frighteningly slim toward the end.

‘Old coach (Roy) Simmons (Jr.) spoke to us the night before and just told us refuse to lose, to never give up,’ Bucktooth said. ‘With a team like Hopkins you just need to keep pushing it ’till the end. They drove us to the end, but I think we did the right things when we needed to and we came out on top.’

Published on June 11, 2006 at 12:00 pm