BY RODERICK BOONE
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- I'm sure with this weekend being the unofficial start of summer and all, some of you lacrosse heads out there might not have had time to keep up with the blow-by-blow of this year's NCAA men's championships.
I've got you covered.
Syracuse topped Johns Hopkins 13-10 Monday to win its NCAA-record 10th championship. And the Orange did it despite the spectacular play of Hopkins goalie Michael Gvozden.
Next up is the local champ. I had a chance to watch NYIT in action for the second straight week and I was equally impressed with the Bears as I was in their D-II semifinal triumph over Limestone to get here. NYIT won its fourth national championship by downing Le Moyne on Sunday afternoon. Tech coach Jack Kaley is a funny guy. When the media was done asking questions about the Bears' win, he turned the tables on us and started asking us questions, such as which level is better? Division I or Division II. "Don't worry, I won't get mad," he said.
I also briefly got into the story of junior goalie Chris Powers, who had eight knee surgeries two years ago and, including Sunday's win, went 6-1 as a starter once three-year starter Dan Goosk went down with an ankle injury.
Of course, you also need to know how the Orange and Blue Jays wound up meeting for the right to play for the Division I title. So ...
For a recap of Hopkins' stunning win over Duke in the semis click here.
Syracuse needed two OTs to knock off Virginia in the semis.
And in the Division III finale Sunday, Salisbury rolled to a 19-13 win over Cortland State.
Phew, as you can see, it was a long, action-packed weekend of men's lacrosse up in New England. We can only hope it will be just as good if not better next year when championship weekend returns to Beantown.
