The Daily Orange

Her clock may have read 4 a.m., but Fantasia Goodwin couldn't fall asleep until she shot down every possible reason for her team not making the NCAA Tournament. "That we wouldn't go because we are a young team," said Goodwin of the sole reason that she could think of that would prevent her and her team from dancing.

NEW YORK - For a half hour in the locker room after the game, the Syracuse players whispered answers to questions about their feelings. How did it feel as the clock ticked down and Villanova started celebrating? What does it feel like to leave Madison Square Garden so prematurely? How does it feel to know the NCAA Tournament slipped 20 minutes from your grasp? For most, there was no answer - hurt eyes and slumped shoulders told enough of the story.

NEW YORK - There was no cursing or finger pointing in the postgame press conference at Madison Square Garden this season. And on this Monday, there was no sign of Jim Boeheim crying "Mistrial!" on every available national TV or radio outlet. He knew the NIT was Syracuse's destiny, and he accepted fate without a fight.

Jonny Flynn ambled out of the Carrier Dome tunnel Monday afternoon, about 10 minutes after the rest of his Syracuse teammates had taken the floor for practice. Five days might have washed away some of the lingering disappointment from Wednesday's 82-63 loss to Villanova.

BALTIMORE - Steven Brooks admitted he doesn't like playing overtime games. So with his Syracuse team locked in a tie with Johns Hopkins here at Homewood Field, the SU midfielder decided he would end it quickly. Thirty seconds into overtime, Brooks took a pass from midfielder Dan Hardy 15 yards away from the JHU goal and gave Syracuse a 14-13 win over the No.

BALTIMORE - Syracuse was getting beat at its own game, and Danny Brennan knew it. Stephen Peyser had just won the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter for Johns Hopkins, and 41 seconds later buried his team's 11th goal. Peyser had spent the entire game going head to head with the NCAA faceoff percentage leader in Brennan and winning the battle.

Three rain delays, seven straight road games and not winning any doubles matches amounted to a miserable weekend for the Syracuse tennis team. Syracuse lost 5-1 to Central Florida on Friday and then suffered its second loss of the weekend to Big East foe South Florida on Sunday.

The Syracuse softball team might have gone over the top after its win over Sam Houston on March 7. After 13 losses to start the season, one could probably forgive the Orange for acting out after its first win. "After that win I remember going to the mound and hugging (Chanel Roehner) and thinking we should've beat that team, it wasn't the World Series," Syracuse head coach Leigh Ross said.

When Jillian Drouin received a phone call from a friend that she was being featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" segment, the SU jumper was surprised. But that quickly turned to pure excitement. Her excitement was justifiable; the segment picks just a few, elite amateur athletes every week from throughout the country and provides a snapshot of career statistics and accolades.