BALTIMORE, Md.- Michael Powell guided Syracuse to its eighth national championship with one goal and five assists in the Orange's 14-13 win over Navy on a rainy Memorial Day at M&T Bank Stadium in front of 43,898 fans.

"[It was a] very emotional game," Syracuse Head Coach John Desko said. "It was a different championship game. I was so proud of them being there and the way that they've been playing this season. They played with a big cause and to go out and play them, it didn't have the feel of a typical other opponent. We were pulling for them also."

Syracuse was fortunate just to have a chance at the title on Monday. The Midshipmen earned 60 groundballs to the Orange's 39, won 20 of 30 face-offs and forced 19 Syracuse turnovers.

But Syracuse goalkeeper Jay Pfeifer kept the Orange in the game. He finished the day with 15 saves in addition to leading the team with six ground balls and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

"Unfortunately, Jay's had to do that a number of times this year," Desko said. "So he's had some good practice at it. There have been a number of games where we asked Jay to do an awful lot. He's been able to do that throughout the year, and a lot of times it has been the turning point in the game for us."

On the other hand, Syracuse reached the Midshipmen's First Team All-American goalkeeper Matt Russell for 11 goals before he left with 8:01 remaining in regulation because of a dislocated right shoulder. Before Monday, Russell had never allowed more than 10 goals in a contest.

"Matt's got a sore shoulder from a previous injury," Navy Head Coach Richie Meade said. "I think it happened on a ground ball play when he came out and got his stick caught in the ground and threw the ball and [the shoulder] popped out. When there were a few shots he couldn't get to, we decided we had to take him out."

Powell, who became just the fourth player in men's lacrosse history to be named a First Team All-American four times, netted the game-winning goal with exactly one minute remaining in regulation.

"On the last goal, Brian [Nee] saw me cutting to the goal and I knew he was going to give it up to me," said Powell, who was named the game's Most Outstanding Player. "And I was lucky enough to finally put one away."

Nee, who finished the game with three goals and two assists, created the play by scooping up a ground ball and then finding Powell for the clinching score.

Navy entered the final quarter facing a 10-8 deficit, but strung together the game's first three-goal spurt to take an 11-10 edge. But Syracuse's Sean Lindsay tied the score off of a pass from Nee when the Orange was on a two-man advantage.

With just 5:40 left in the game, defensive midfielder Clipper Lennon put Navy back in front with just his third goal of the season.

However, the Orange tied the score for the 10th and final time when Brian Crockett completed the hat-trick.

Nee scored 80 seconds later before feeding Powell for the clincher.

"Mike [Powell] made a great dodge up top and my guy went up a little bit. Mike's such a good passer, he just found me," Nee said about his NCAA Tournament-high 11th. "My guy kinda came back a little, but I face dodged and went through."

Navy's Ian Dingman and Jon Birsner led the Midshipmen offensively in a losing cause. Each player scored two goals with Birsner setting up three more and Dingman earning a pair of assists himself on a day set aside to honor war veterans.

"It's a great honor," Dingman said. "Everyone in the country wants to be playing here right now. Playing on Memorial Day and being in the military is extra special. Honoring our veterans in all the wars, I hope they aren't anything but proud of us."

Note: The three-day paid attendance of 177,523 surpassed last year's total by over 30,000... This was Syracuse's third national championship in five years. The Orange also won in 1983, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2000 and 2002.