FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Dave Pietramala knew when the momentum, parked for the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s contest so firmly with his Johns Hopkins team, finally switched.

The Blue Jays, up a pair of goals in the second quarter, had a man-up opportunity and chance to seize control. Instead, it was Syracuse attack Kenny Nims who turned the tide of the contest.

On a transition the other way, Nims took a feed from fellow attack Mike Leveille and roofed a right-handed shot from the left alley.

It was the first man-down goal stingy Hopkins had given up all year. It was also perhaps the most important strike of Syracuse’s 13-10 national championship win over the Blue Jays Monday here at Gillette Stadium.

‘When you give up a man-up goal or the other scores a man-down goal, it’s a momentum builder or a momentum stealer,’ Pietramala said. ‘What you can do is bounce back.’

Hopkins failed to do just that.

Nims’ tally was part of a second quarter in which Syracuse took hold of the game – outscoring Hopkins 4-1 and counteracting a first quarter effort when SU had gotten bogged down in the Jays plodding, possession-oriented style.

The score spawned a four-goal run during the second and third quarters that helped SU take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

‘I honestly think that play was bigger than people realize,’ midfielder Jovan Miller said. ‘It was a play where I don’t think anybody was really expecting us to get such a big opportunity, and we capitalized on it.’

Before that goal, Syracuse had been playing right into Hopkins’ hands. The Orange had staggered through the first quarter while the Jays controlled the ball – much the same way they had two days earlier when they neutralized Duke’s vaunted attack in a 10-9 upset.

When SU had the ball, it was far from efficient. The majority of the Orange’s shots were either wide or funneled harmlessly into sophomore goalie Michael Gvozden, who had eight first-quarter saves.

‘I think the emotion of playing in the national championship game and coming off a double-overtime victory over Virginia in the semifinals, we were a little bit impatient,’ SU head coach John Desko said. ‘We took some shots a little further out than maybe we should have early on, and Gvozden was there.’

That offense was still looking for a rhythm when senior midfielder John Carrozza took a one-minute penalty for a huge hit he laid on Hopkins attack Stephen Boyle.

On the ensuing man-down, the Orange managed to wrestle the ball free and send midfielder Matt Abbott streaming down the left side of the field.

Gvozden denied the junior on the doorstep, but Leveille scooped up the rebound, created space and found Nims open for the rocket.

‘I think at that point we were down a couple,’ Nims said. ‘We were riding pretty well, and Mike found me in front. I think that was a pretty big goal and momentum swing in our favor. From then on, we never looked back.’

Sure enough, Syracuse got the next three scores after that. First, midfielder Pat Perritt slithered in front and finished in close to tie the game. Two minutes later, it was Dan Hardy taking a feed from Steven Brooks and going top shelf to give the Orange its first lead of the game.

By the halftime whistle, the SU offense had found its comfort zone. And the defense, shaky in the first half, had hunkered down, forcing seven turnovers in the quarter and limiting Hopkins to a single goal.

‘When we got the lead, I really thought that was the clinching part,’ Miller said. ‘Even though there was still a lot of time left, getting the lead, I really think that was a big booster.’

Sure enough, the Orange never looked back, holding the Jays off in the third quarter and building an unassailable five-goal lead in the fourth.

Nims played a role then too, scoring in the opening minutes of the fourth for his second of the game.

But it was his first one that ignited Syracuse when it needed it most.

‘We’ve been in spots like that all season,’ Nims said. ‘We never get down on ourselves, and that says a lot about the coaches and players on this team. We know that we are never going to quit and never going to give up.’

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on May 25, 2008 at 12:00 pm