The Daily Orange

STORRS, Conn. - For Syracuse, it'll be tough to find a player with a more imposing presence than Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet. Measuring in at 7 feet 3 inches and 263 pounds, Thabeet blocked and altered shots, created havoc in the paint throughout the game and crippled any thoughts of an upset, as No.

STORRS, Conn. - To Kristof Ongenaet, one sequence epitomized what made Syracuse's 63-49 loss to No. 1 Connecticut Wednesday night so frustrating. With about 13 minutes remaining and the Orange trailing by just four, Ongenaet, the SU forward, made a steal, creating a fast-break opportunity.

STORRS, Conn. - As if scoring on Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet wasn't tough enough, Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku had to do it injured. Onuaku played 25 minutes Wednesday night in the Orange's 63-49 loss to the Huskies, but scored just four points on 2-of-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds, all while trying to deal with the 7-foot-3 Thabeet in the post.

Mike Anderson has enjoyed success everywhere basketball has taken him. From an NIT title during his playing days at Tulsa to three Final Four appearances as the assistant head coach at Arkansas, Anderson knows what a winning program looks like. So when he was offered the head coaching job at Missouri, he couldn't help but envision creating his own success at a down-on-its-luck school with a rich tradition that had reached basketball greatness just a few years earlier.

During a timeout with one minute remaining in its game against Niagara on Jan. 30, Syracuse head coach Paul Flanagan searched up and down his bench for one player to help the Orange out of a dire situation: a rare 6-3 disadvantage. Flanagan was scouring the bench for Lisa Mullan, as he knew that the freshman would be the perfect player for this situation.

Jamie Kelling wasn't surprised by freshman Stephanie Watt's stellar performance this weekend. The .583 average and three home runs that Watts amassed over her first weekend in orange at no point shocked the senior shortstop. After all, Kelling is Watts' "Big Sister.

John Desko stood on the sideline at Gillette Stadium, having returned to championship weekend. After a disastrous, scandal-filled 5-8 season in 2007, Desko led the Orange back to the 2008 men's lacrosse final four. Back to the top. As Desko waited for the Syracuse-Virginia national semifinal game to begin, Virginia head coach Dom Starsia approached him on the sidelines.

John Galloway knows he was a third wheel most of last season. The then-freshman goalie tripped into funks, but was consistently bailed out by the second-best scoring offense in the nation. He beat himself up after games, apologetic for mediocrity. So this was refreshing.

In the final game of the season against Colgate last year, Syracuse men's lacrosse head coach John Desko experienced life without Danny Brennan in the faceoff X. Brennan, who helped lead the Orange to a national title last season, won an impressive 214 out of 321 faceoffs last season, or exactly every 2 out of 3 battles inside the X.

It must have been Syracuse's year, for how else do you go about explaining the Orange's magical run to the final four, its redemption tour as the savior for SU athletics through a pristine Memorial Day weekend in Foxborough, Mass.? Had the lacrosse Gods hopped on the vengeance bandwagon? It was talent and chemistry, sure - and a certain Tewaaraton Trophy winner, Mike Leveille - that carried the Orange to its 10th national title, re-branding Syracuse's name at the top of the echelon of collegiate lacrosse.

In the past, he usually appeared in flashes. He was the spark for offensive rushes, the lanky midfielder digging out loose balls, the forgotten man in the offensive zone sneaking a shot on net. Matt Abbott did most everything for the Syracuse men's lacrosse team, but most of it didn't show up in the score sheet.

Danny Glading sat and watched the Syracuse players rush onto the field. A double-overtime goal from Mike Leveille had just sent SU to the national championship game and sent Glading's Virginia team home. The Orange met in the center of Gillette Stadium in a bouncing sea of orange and white.

Katie Rowan can't shake the thought of last year's failure in the final four. Heading into the postseason, Rowan, then a junior attack and one of the nation's top scorers, carried all the expectations of the Syracuse women's lacrosse team in the stick resting on her shoulders.