It was his 36th goal of the season, his first of the afternoon. It was a blistering shot high past the opposing goaltender, but in form it was not far different from a number of goals he had scored in his first 12 games of the year.

But this goal was different. Jeff Zywicki’s goal with 1:10 to go in overtime accomplished something that no other Minuteman had done in 22 years – it toppled Syracuse.

“I had [Syracuse’s Dan DiPietro] on me the whole game and he was on me in the overtime,” said Zywicki, who leads the team with 55 points. “I just took him righty, got a little step on him to the strong side and I just ripped it. It looked real nice, went top shelf, but it’s a goal and a win and I’m just happy about that.”

Seniors Kevin Leveille and Chris Fiore and sophomore Chris Doyle each scored hat tricks as the Massachusetts lacrosse team dumped the seventh-ranked Orangemen (7-5) in overtime, 14-13. It was the first time UMass (12-1, 3-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) has beaten Syracuse since a 12-8 victory in 1981.

Co-captain Leveille, who has been downed by ‘Cuse in each of his three varsity seasons, was overcome with emotion following the victory.

“I don’t even know what it feels like right now,” he said. “It hasn’t really sunk in. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

The Maroon and White trailed only once in the game and held a one-goal edge with just over a minute to play in regulation. But Fiore was called for a slashing penalty with 1:03 to go, giving Syracuse a one-minute extra man opportunity and a chance to tie.

The Orangemen were thwarted on their initial shot sequence by the Minuteman defense, but following a timeout with just over 20 seconds to play, they set up the play they wanted. Junior and leading scorer Mike Powell found a cutting Sean Lindsay, who notched a point-blank goal to tie the game with 5.5 seconds to play.

“We told the guys going into the overtime period not to change the way they play,” UMass coach Greg Cannella said. “I thought we played under control pretty much the whole day, there were a couple instances where we played out of control and took some poor shots, but I thought we were very controlled at the end. We played great defense…and we didn’t use a timeout – I thought we might use a timeout there, but the guys were under control, I had a lot of confidence in their ability out there in that situation.”

Syracuse won the opening draw of the extra session and kept pressure on the Maroon and White defense, which held strong behind the lead of sophomore netminder Bill Schell (16 saves) and gave the home squad a chance to come away with its fifth straight victory, and second in a row over an opponent ranked in the top 10.

“Once we got the ball up the field and the offense got the ball I had total confidence in them,” Schell said.

Despite giving up a late lead, the Minutemen kept positive going into overtime.

“Kevin [Leveille] has said it all season, especially in the last couple games,” Zywicki said. “‘Not too high, not too low.’ We did it all game; we did it when they scored. You can’t get down on yourself when you’re losing, you can’t get too high when you’re winning. So [our mood] didn’t really change that much.”

“We talk about that all the time – poise and composure is one of our keys to victory every week,” Cannella said. “We’ve done a good job with that over the last five weeks. I’m very proud of what these guys have been able to accomplish in that part of our game.”

The Orangemen dropped their third game in a row – ironically, the first time they have done that since the 1981 season – but have lost those games by a total of four goals.

“All in all, the guys played with a lot of fire,” Syracuse coach John Desko said. “The guys that had been turning the ball over in the last couple games weren’t in this game. I think we played a better game today.”

Syracuse’s Mike Springer was a thorn in UMass’ side all game, leading all players with four goals in the contest.

“He shoots pretty hard,” Schell said of the 6-foot-4 senior. “Sometimes he comes right over the top and puts it low. He’s a taller kid, so it comes up high, and then he shoots down low, and it’s hard to see.”

But though Springer had a valiant effort, the Minuteman defense did an impressive job against Powell, last year’s Tewaaraton Trophy winner, awarded to the nation’s top lacrosse player. Freshman Jack Reid and his teammates held the attackman to just one goal on Saturday.

“I think it was a team effort,” Cannella said. “Jack Reid covered him most of the game, but we had some switches. We have a lot of faith in our individuals and our team defense. Andy Shay continues to do an awesome job with those guys, preparing them each week for their opponents. I think it’s more about the team defense than anything else. If you don’t play team defense you’re not going to beat a team like Syracuse.”

Despite being overjoyed at topping the Orangemen, Leveille was quick to remind everyone of the other significance of Saturday’s win. It all but assured the Minutemen at least an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, and potentially a home game in the first round.

“It was another big game in a season of big games,” he said. “We want to win them all and I think we have a lot of work in front of us. We’re going to bear down and keep moving on. Maybe we’ll have something bigger to celebrate.”