Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse’s stay in Charlottesville, Virginia was cut short after its 15 to 7 loss to Notre Dame in the National Semifinal on Saturday. A unique trip considering what has been tradition for the Men’s lacrosse during Memorial Day weekend.
The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships since 2002 have been held at pro venues. Championship Weekend was supposed to be held once again at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the host of last year’s Final Four. The last time Championship Weekend was held on a campus
was Rutgers in 2002. And I have to say what an atmosphere it was at Scott Stadium. The announced attendance number 24,396 is definitely a smaller number if you consider what the numbers at the pro stadiums have looked like for the semis and championship over the last few years. But to the 20 plus thousand that showed up, take a bow. When I arrived at Scott Stadium I saw the parking lots full of tailgates in full effect, with people sitting, talking and cooking, and kids playing catch with their sticks in the rain with larger than life similes on their face. Yes, if you were watching the Princeton-Duke game at home it did look like the bleachers were empty to start the game, towards the end of the first half is when the stadium looked really full. It stayed this way until the Syracuse fans started heading for the exits in the 4th quarter in the second semifinal. All four teams were represented very well, the fan bases traveled, and at some point I was debating what fan base was the loudest. The people of Charlottesville deserve a lot of credit because I saw a ton of Virginia fans in the stadium as well. For a fanbase that has had a rough few weeks they showed up whether their team was there or not. Overall it was a great atmosphere for lacrosse, wouldn’t mind the NCAA sprinkling in some campus locations every once in a while, but with the attendance numbers being down yesterday and most likely the attendance number tomorrow combined with saturday’s not matching the total attendance number from last year, I would find it very hard for the NCAA bringing Championship Weekend back to a college campus on a regular basis. Turning to the other matter at hand, the press conferences. Notre Dame started off and between the players and Coach Kevin Corrigan, the feeling in the press room was a ton of confidence and they expected to be playing on Monday. It’s a very humble and focused group.
When Tewaaraton finalist Shawn Lyght was asked about covering Joey Spallina, Lyght said, “He’s a great player it’s always fun going against him and you can’t take everything away from him.”
Right after that Notre Dame Goalie Thomas Ricciardelli stated “Shawn is never going to say he absolutely shut him down, but he did.”
When it came time for Coach Gait, Billy Dwan lll, Joey Spallina, and Finn Thomson to speak it was a group that knew it failed its ultimate goal of winning a National Championship. Spallina took a lot of responsibility for statements he has made over the last four years saying “Sadly, I lied.”
Spallina had made it perfectly clear that he wanted to bring home a National Championship to Syracuse during his time on the hill. Billy Dwan lll and Finn Thomson shared a message for next year’s group saying “Carry the culture”. As the program now flips the page for next year and dealing with losing the majority of the talent that has led them to back to back Championship Weekend appearances.
I think it is important to say in the current era of college athletics, that when this group stepped on campus, it welcomed the task of bringing this program back to the heights it once used to be at. For four years it was a loyal group,in a time where loyalty has been thrown out the window in this current era of athletics. This Senior class welcomed the fact that the community deserved a product to be proud of and to bring back the expectation that this program is used to having shouldn’t be left unnoticed.
