A player worth celebrating
As the final seconds ticked away in the University of Massachusetts's 16-15 victory over Syracuse last Sunday in the first round of the NCAA lacrosse tournament at Amherst's Garber Field, Jeff Zywicki found himself in possession of the ball one last time.
Somehow it seemed fitting.
Zywicki, after all, had seven points on six goals and one assist to help UMass snap Syracuse's run of 22 consecutive trips to the NCAA semifinals. It propelled the Minutemen to a quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Johns Hopkins at noon today at Homewood Field in Baltimore. When Zywicki (pronounced zuh-Wick-ee) returns to Amherst tomorrow, he will be presented his degree in computer systems engineering. ''I still hope to be a college lacrosse player," he said.
The Orange had hoped to close the books on Zywicki's college career, but it was the 5-foot-9-inch, 185-pound senior attack from Napean, Ontario, who wound up closing out Syracuse -- once again -- after reprising his role as UMass's designated Orange Crusher.
Two years ago, UMass snapped a 22-game losing streak against Syracuse when Zywicki tallied the winning goal in a 14-13 overtime victory at Garber Field. Then, in this season's home finale, April 30 against Syracuse, Zywicki again dealt the Orange a crushing blow with his winning goal in another 14-13 OT thriller.
With little regard for the chronic back problem that had forced him to miss all but one game in last season's painful 7-7 campaign, Zywicki punctuated that April 30 triumph by doing a flip in front of the Syracuse bench. Despite his protestations that it was a somersault and not a flip, Zywicki's move, later christened the ''Canadian Flip," was a defiant retort to the flip former Syracuse player Mike Powell executed on a scoring play during last year's 17-10 victory over the Minutemen at the Carrier Dome.
This time, at the behest of UMass coach Greg Cannella, Zywicki made certain his celebration was more subdued. There was no ''Canadian Flip." There was just the roof job of all roof jobs.
As he stood behind the Syracuse goal, counting down the final seconds, Zywicki launched the ball high over the heads of fans seated on Garber's grassy knoll. It cleared the fence, took a high bounce off the pavement, and landed squarely on the roof of nearby Curry Hicks Cage.
Cannella, for his part, was more willing to live with Zywicki's roof job than another spine-shuddering somersault like the one April 30.
''At the time, I was just so excited we won the game that I didn't know he was at the bottom of the pile," Cannella said. ''If I had known, I would have asked everybody to get off of him as soon as possible, especially with the back injury he had last year."
Zywicki's back woes stemmed from a hockey injury he sustained as an eighth-grader. The pain would come and go, but it flared up at the end of 2003. It came into full bloom after he aggravated it in UMass's 2004 season-opening loss to North Carolina.
''I was in excruciating pain," Zywicki recalled. ''It was to the point where I couldn't even walk, I couldn't put on my socks, I couldn't tie my shoes. Getting in and out of a car was painful. It was pretty bad at that point. I basically never practiced or played again that year.
''It was pretty much like the worst sports experience of my life. It was terrible having to sit on the sidelines and watch those guys I was supposed to graduate with play their senior season. It was pretty tough. It was definitely a learning experience."
Zywicki avoided back surgery by undergoing a rigorous physical therapy plan that allowed him to return for a fifth year of eligibility.
Who knows how things might have been for the Minutemen last season had Zywicki not been sidelined and Sean Morris hadn't missed half the season with mononucleosis. ''Having those guys healthy has made a big difference," Cannella said. ''It's no coincidence that our offense struggled last year without Sean and without Jeff."
With a healthy Zywicki and Morris on the attack, the Minutemen are 13-2. It's no coincidence, either, that Zywicki and Morris lead the team with 42 goals apiece and are the first UMass duo to score 40 or more goals in the same season since Jim Weller (62) and Chris Corin (49) in 1981.
''Whenever either one of them makes a play, I'll turn to the guys on the sideline and joke, `It's all coaching,' " Cannella said with a laugh. ''But Jeff's an exceptional scorer. He has the ability to score from poor angles, he has the ability to stick-fake people, stick-fake goalies, and put the ball in the back of the net. He's tremendously skilled and he shoots with a high accuracy when he's inside 10 yards. It's just his knack of finding the back of the net that makes Jeff great."
Zywicki's 41st goal of the season -- on a brilliant behind-the-back feed from Morris -- tied his total of two seasons ago when he led UMass and the ECAC in scoring (62 points), goals (41), and assists (21). His sixth goal of the game, which came on a man-up opportunity with 6:03 left, ranked as his (career-high) 42d of the season and gave him the team lead over Morris, who wound up scoring his 42d when he tallied the winner with 1:12 left.
''Jeff's definitely performed well against Syracuse in his career," said Cannella, noting Zywicki's 10 career goals against the Orange. ''Obviously, Sunday was the best game he's had against them. So, yeah, it seemed appropriate that he wound up with the ball on his stick at the end."
As far as Zywicki knew, the ball was still sitting atop Curry Hicks.
''I never got it back," he said. ''Me and Morris were talking about jumping up there and going to get it, though."
When he was apprised the ball might have some historical value, especially since it was the one the Minutemen had used to snap Syracuse's streak of trips to the NCAA semis, Zywicki suddenly seemed awakened to the fact. ''Yeah, that's true," he said.
Pausing to give it some thought, Zywicki wondered how to go about retrieving his roof job. ''I should maybe see then if I can get a ladder," he said with a laugh. ''That way I can jump up there and get it back."
