Soccer on the big screen.
When my longtime friend Tom invited me to attend the Syracuse-Monmouth men’s basketball game at the JMA Wireless Dome with him at the end of last week, neither of us had an idea about the bonus that would be attached.
The Orange men’s soccer squad won its semifinal match in the national tournament and the championship game was scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday.
University officials decided to push the basketball game time from 7 to 8 and show the soccer game on the dome’s huge video boards.
When I arrived Syracuse was leading 2-1.
Indiana tied it 2-2 … and then basketball time arrived before the soccer game ended. Officials kept the game on in the area behind the basketball court and the “other” game went on.
Great timing prevailed. Nobody scored on the soccer field in overtime. The game went to penalty kicks. Tom’s binoculars allowed us to follow the game behind the far stands …
Halftime of the basketball game arrived at the same time as the penalty kicks. And all the screens displayed Syracuse’s quite thrilling 7-6 victory for its first soccer national title ever. The dome crowd let loose the biggest cheer of the night. Really.
OK, I’ll share some basketball photos over the next two days.
Mark Bialczak 
How cool, Mark! Congratulations Syracuse! The dome did it right!
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Our community needed to cheer, Karla!
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Yes!!
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Was it two wins for Syracuse that night?
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It was two wins for Syracuse that night, David!
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What a brilliant thing to do! Let everyone cheer for both of the teams, no split decisions on which to watch were needed.
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It was quite smart and handy for Syracuse fans, MBC!
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Mark, that’s so wild the timing allowed for you to get a “2-for-1” with Syracuse sports. Sounds like a lot of fun!
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And a national title in college sports is so darn precious, Bruce!
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Way to go Syracuse! That made the night even more exciting!
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It sure did, Nance.
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so fun, and glad they made that decision. very smart.
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Yes, it was fun for the fans, Beth!
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