The 2008 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament was held from May 10 through May 26, 2008. This was the 38th annual Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. Sixteen NCAA Division I college men's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament. The first round of the

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

was played on May 10 and May 11 at the home field of the top-seeded team. The quarterfinals were held on May 17 and May 18 on two separate neutral fields: the

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse team ...

in Annapolis, Maryland, and

Schoellkopf Field Schoellkopf Field is a 21,500-capacity stadium at Cornell University's Ithaca campus that opened in 1915 and is used for the Cornell Big Red football, sprint football and lacrosse teams. It is located just north of Cascadilla Creek on the so ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

. The tournament culminated with the semifinals and finals held on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

weekend at

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Foot ...

in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The championship weekend, which included the Division II and

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

championships, was hosted by

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fr ...

. The championship was won by Syracuse University, beating

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

13–10, in front of a title game record crowd of 48,970 fans.

Qualifying teams

The Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Committee was responsible for selecting the teams that competed in the championship tournament. The qualifying teams, along with the seeding for each team in the tournament, were announced on Sunday, May 4, 2008. Seven conferences received automatic bids to the tournament for its top team. The remaining nine teams were selected as "at large" bids by the committee. Five conferences held a conference tournament championship to award the conferences' bid. Canisius earned an automatic bid by winning the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

(MAAC) championship. This marks the first time that Canisius College has gained entry to the National Championship tournament. Colgate earned an automatic bid by winning its first-ever Patriot League championship.

Hofstra Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

earned an automatic bid by winning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship, Notre Dame earned an automatic bid by winning

Great Western Lacrosse League The Great Western Lacrosse League, also known as the GWLL, was an NCAA Division I men's college lacrosse athletic conference that existed from 1994 to 2009. The conference was created when the NCAA instituted automatic qualifiers to the NCAA ch ...

(GWLL) championship, and

UMBC The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

earned an automatic bid by winning

America East Conference The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research ...

championship. Two conferences award their bids based on regular season conference records. Loyola earned an automatic bid by winning the

(ECAC) championship with a 6–1 conference record. The

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

's automatic bid was awarded to

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

. Cornell and

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

had identical conference records, but due to a victory by Cornell in head-to-head competition earlier in the season the tiebreaker was given to Cornell. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) conference tournament champion was

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

. However, the ACC does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament because a conference must have at least six members competing (for 2 years) in order to be awarded an automatic bid. The following teams were awarded at-large bids by the NCAA Selection Committee:

(ACC),

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

(ACC), Syracuse (Independent),

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

(ACC), Johns Hopkins (Independent),

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

(ACC),

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(GWLL),

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

(Patriot), and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

(GWLL).

Tournament bracket

* * = Overtime

Game summaries

First Round

The first round of the 2008 championship tournament saw upsets, an overtime game, and the NCAA career points record broken. Unseeded

bested #8

15–7. The opening goal of this game was scored by Ohio State goaltender Stefan Schroder, who ran the length of the field to put one past the Big Red netminder.

upset #4 seeded

in Chapel Hill with a final score of 8–7 on the strong play of the Midshipmen defense and the four goal effort of Tim Paul, who was honored with Nike Player of the Week honors. Notre Dame, who was hosting its first NCAA Tournament game, topped Colgate in a contest that was settled in overtime. In a victory over Loyola, Duke's Matt Danowski broke the NCAA career points record, eclipsing Joe Vasta's mark. Syracuse ended Canisius's first ever appearance in the tournament early with a 20–3 victory. Johns Hopkins was led by

Paul Rabil Paul Rabil (born December 14, 1985), is an American former professional lacrosse player and co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League. He played for the Cannons Lacrosse Club and Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League, as well as th ...

's four goals in a 10–4 win over

. Virginia's Garrett Billings third goal of the game with 6:50 left in the game sealed the Cavaliers win over

beat GWLL's

10–7.

Quarterfinals

United States Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

The quarterfinals were held at two separate locations the weekend of May 17 and May 18. On Saturday, 17,017 people attended the quarterfinals at

. This set an attendance record for the most people to attend the quarterfinal round of the lacrosse championships. Fans in attendance saw Johns Hopkins defeat Navy 10–4. Navy was held without a goal for both the second and third quarters. The other game played in Annapolis was Maryland versus Virginia, which went into overtime.

Ben Rubeor Ben Rubeor is a former professional lacrosse player and coach. He was the head coach for Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League from 2020-2022. Rubeor previously played for the Chesapeake Bayhawks & Long Island Lizards in Major League ...

scored the game-winning goal in the extra period to send the Cavaliers to the semifinals. On Sunday, at Cornell's

, Syracuse defeated Notre Dame 11–9 on the play of midfielder Dan Hardy who recorded four points, including three goals and the game winning score. Also, Duke routed Ohio State 21–10 on the offensive efforts of

Zack Greer Zack Greer (born February 12, 1986 in Whitby, Ontario) is a Canadian professional lacrosse player who plays for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the National Lacrosse League. Greer attended high school at All Saints Catholic Secondary School in Whit ...

who recorded a career-high eleven points on six goals and five assists.

Final Four

On Saturday, May 24, 48,224 fans were spectators for the 2008 Division I Final Four doubleheader held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The first game featured Syracuse versus Virginia, and the second was a rematch of last year's championship game between Johns Hopkins and Duke.

Syracuse vs. Virginia

In the first game of the Final Four doubleheader, Syracuse defeated Virginia 12–11 in a double overtime thriller. Virginia commanded the first half of the contest due in part to extra-man opportunities resulting from penalties by Syracuse. In the second quarter, the Cavaliers went on a run of five unanswered goals and entered half-time with a 6–3 lead, and the game's momentum. The game remained in Virginia's favor through the third quarter, prior to the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

fourth quarter comeback. Syracuse's

Mike Leveille Mike Leveille (born December 25, 1985) is a former professional lacrosse player with the Chicago Machine of Major League Lacrosse. He was an All-American at Syracuse University, and was awarded the Tewaaraton Trophy in 2008. Professional career ...

scored five goals, including a goal with 3:00 remaining in the game to send the game into overtime, and the eventual game-winner in the second overtime period to propel the Orange into the Championship game. Syracuse's come-from-behind victory included scoring six of the final eight goals of the contest. Syracuse's Junior midfielder Matt Abbott, known more for his groundball and clearing game, tallied three goals in the second half for his first career hat trick to spark to second half rally. Extra possessions earned by face-off specialist Danny Brennan, including both opportunities in the overtime periods and 70% total for the game, helped the Orange stage the comeback. While, Syracuse goalkeeper John Galloway settled down in the second half and made a number game saving stops as regulation time expired. Virginia scoring was led by Danny Glading with three goals and one assist, while Garret Billings scored two goals.

, a

Tewaaraton Trophy The Tewaaraton Award is an annual award for the most outstanding American college lacrosse men's and women's players, since 2001. It is the lacrosse equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy. The award is presented by The Tewaaraton Foundation and th ...

finalist, was held to one point on an assist.

Johns Hopkins vs. Duke

Johns Hopkins defeated Duke 10–9 in the second game of the Final Four doubleheader. The heavily favored Duke team, who had beaten the Blue Jays earlier in the season 17–6, were handed only their second loss of the season. Hopkins controlled the deliberate tempo of the game, and held a 4–2 lead going into halftime. After scoring first after halftime, Hopkins saw Duke pull even with three goals in 45 seconds during the third quarter, including back-to-back goals just 7 seconds apart. In fourth quarter, the speed of the game accelerated as Duke began to push offensively. Johns Hopkins goaltender Michael Gvozden was up to the task. He recorded 7 of his 17 saves in the fourth quarter, including one as time expired to seal the victory. Hopkins was led by Senior Kevin Huntley who netted four goals in the contest.

Championship: Syracuse vs. Johns Hopkins

On Memorial Day, Monday May 26, Syracuse defeated Johns Hopkins in the national championship game 13–10 in front of 48,970 fans at Gillette Stadium. This game set the attendance record for the NCAA lacrosse championship game and for any NCAA outdoor championship. This marks the 10th victory in a national championship game for the Syracuse program. This is John Desko's, Syracuse's Head coach, fourth championship in his ten-year career at Syracuse. The Orange were led by midfielder Dan Hardy with a team-high three goals, fifth-year Senior face-off specialist Danny Brennan who scored his first career goal, and attackman

, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honoree and 2008

winner, who recorded three points on one goal and two assists. Syracuse

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

John Galloway became the first

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

goaltender in NCAA history to record 16 wins in one season, and just the fourth to win an NCAA title. Johns Hopkins'

played an outstanding game leading his team with career-high six goals and one assist in the losing effort. In addition, Blue Jay netminder Michael Gvozden made 20 saves, the most saves in a Championship game since Maryland's

Brian Dougherty Brian "Doc" Dougherty (born December 10, 1973) is a retired Hall of Fame American lacrosse goaltender. He attended The Episcopal Academy before attending University of Maryland. He is currently the head coach at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. ...

in 1995.

Record by conference

Tournament notes

* 97,194 fans attended the tournament surpassing the previous year's tournament record of 100,447.

References

External links

Tournament statistics
via NCAA {{DEFAULTSORT:2008 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship

NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship The NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament determines the annual top men's field lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I. This tournament has determined the national champion since the inaugural 1971 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse ...

College sports in Massachusetts Lacrosse in Massachusetts Sports competitions in Foxborough, Massachusetts 21st century in Foxborough, Massachusetts