The media attention was focused on Ivy League champ Princeton's young team, which started three freshmen and two sophomores, but in the end it was Syracuse's young talent who stole the show. Sophomore attackman Liam Banks, recording a career-high six goals and one assist, helped the Orangemen cruise to the NCAA title with an easy 13-7 victory over the Tigers for their sixth NCAA championship and first since 1995.
It was the third consecutive win for Syracuse against Princeton, which also won earlier this year 16-4 and knocked the Tigers out of contention during the previous NCAA tournament.
After several minutes of scoreless play, Syracuse broke the stalemate on a goal by Ryan Powell. Just two minutes later, Banks followed up with two consecutive goals to give the Orangemen the early momentum. After another score by Josh Coffman, Syracuse owned a commanding 4-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Syracuse built its lead to 6-0 before Princeton finally got on the board thanks to a goal from Sean Hartofilis with 6:07 remaining in the second quarter. By halftime, the Orangemen remained comfortably in control with a 7-3 lead.
Before the Tigers had the chance to mount a comeback like the one they had against Virginia Sunday afternoon, Banks netted two goals in the first three minutes of the second half to increase the lead to six again.
Syracuse scored two more before Princeton responded with two goals of its own, from Brendan Tierney and All-American Josh Sims, to close out the third quarter.
For the first 10:35 of the final quarter, the Orangemen defense held the Tigers scoreless and secured the win despite two more goals by Princeton. With 18 seconds remaining in the game, senior Ryan Powell fed the ball to Ethan Mills for a goal, giving him 287 career points. The assist tied Powell for the Syracuse record with his brother Casey.
Powell, also a first-team All-American, finished the game with three goals and two assists, while Mike Springer added two goals and two assists. Banks, who was named the Final Four MVP, is tied for second place for most goals scored in the championship game. Goalkeeper Rob Mulligan made 10 saves.
Princeton was led by Sims, who netted two goals and made one assist. Trevor Tierney stopped 15 shots in goal.
