Old vs. new in final

Welcome to the world of Syracuse lacrosse, after an almost routine 17-7 victory over No. 3 seed Duke yesterday before 36,594 at Gillette Stadium.

Another season. A rare Final Four appearance. And an even rarer championship game appearance, something that hasn't occurred in 21 years.

Welcome to the world of Cornell lacrosse, which is now a step away from completing a Cinderella season after its 15-6 triumph over No. 1 seed Virginia.

The defending champion Orange, trying for an NCAA-record 11th national title, stormed their way into their 16th championship game by trouncing Duke (15-4), which brought a nine-game winning streak into the contest. The triumph was every bit as impressive as the final score indicates.

Syracuse entered the Final Four with a 15-2 record and easy wins over Siena and Maryland in its first two tournament games, each accomplished with a wide variety of talent on offense and defense.

Duke, which hadn't lost since March - to Cornell - was overwhelmed by Syracuse's talent and depth. Nine players scored for the Orange, led by midfielder Patrick Perritt and attackman Ken Nims, who each had four goals.

The No. 2-seeded Orange broke the game open in the third quarter when they expanded an 8-4 lead to a 14-6 advantage.

Duke's only answer was junior attackman Max Quinzani, who dazzled his friends and relatives from Duxbury with three goals and an assist.

"We came in here very confi dent," said Quinzani. "They punched us in the mouth early, give them credit for that."

Duke coach John Danowski said he would have to look at a tape of the game to get a better idea of what went wrong.

"We won't know until we look at the video, which probably won't be until the year 2012 or 2013," said Danowski.

By then, Syracuse could have another two or three national titles.

"Being a Syracuse lacrosse player, your goal is to win a national championship," said Perritt, whose goal production was a career high, "and that's been our goal all year."

Nims, the NCAA leader in points per game, said it is depth as much as talent.

"I think it's just the fact that we're so deep," he said. "We have about 10 guys who are capable of putting up big numbers."

While Syracuse's win was not surprising, Cornell's whacking of the Cavaliers, who had beaten the Big Red, 14-10, during the regular season, was stunning.

Virginia (15-3), which entered having outscored Villanova and Johns Hopkins by a combined 37-14, seemed a mighty challenge for Cornell, which had earned its way into the Final Four with a 6-4 victory over Princeton last weekend.

The Big Red jumped to a 4-1 lead, which they expanded to 8-2 by halftime.

Led by freshman attackman Rob Pannell (three goals, three assists) Cornell never flinched as it reached its first national title game since 1988. Coincidentally, back then it also beat Virginia and met Syracuse in the title game (a 13-8 loss).

Attackmen Ryan Hurley and Chris Finn each scored three goals.

"We knew we needed to get off to a strong start against Virginia," said Cornell coach Jeff Tambroni. "We talked a lot about believing with our guys. After our first few shots went in, I thought we settled in. I felt that after the first 15 minutes were behind us, our guys had a positive look in their eyes.

"We carried the momentum from that first stanza into the next 45 minutes."

Cornell senior midfielder Max Seibald, a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, symbolic of college lacrosse's best player, said the attitude was one of confidence.

"We came into this game expecting to win from the get-go," said Seibald. "I think everyone on our team wanted another crack at them right after that game [the regular-season loss]."

"They played completely differently the first time we played them," said Virginia senior attackman Danny Glading. "They were quick to go today, really quick."

Quick enough to send the Cavaliers home. And to send Cornell into the title game against a Central New York neighbor.