COLLEGE PARK, Maryland -- Career scoring highs rarely come when the stakes are highest -- or against a team as stingy as Princeton.

Memorial Day was that rare day for Syracuse's Liam Banks. The midfielder scored a personal-high six goals to lead the Orangemen to a 13-7 victory over the Tigers and the Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship at the University of Maryland's Byrd Stadium.

In a game that was never in doubt after Syracuse (15-1) claimed a 4-0 first-quarter lead, Banks, who was named most outstanding player, fell shy of the record of seven set by Mike French in 1976 against Maryland. His total was the most scored in a title game since Jeff Cook of Johns Hopkins scored six in 1981.

"I had a lot of easy looks at the goal because of being set up by other people," said the sophomore attackman. "I moved (Princeton goalie Trevor Tierney) around as opposed to going in the same spot all the time. So I was right on the doorstep, and it's really hard to make a save right there."

That is unusual against Princeton (12-3), a team that rarely lets anyone in the door. Although the Tigers surprised defending champion Virginia two days earlier in the semifinals, not much had changed in terms of the match-up with Syracuse since April 23. That day, 24 hours after Princeton won its Ivy Group crown by beating Cornell, the Orange drilled the Tigers, 16-4.

Yet second-year coach John Desko, who won his first championship after last year's near miss, said he never thought the Orangemen had their sixth official NCAA title and first since 1995 wrapped up until late in the fourth quarter.

"Princeton is always in there," he said of the five-time champions, who had won three of the last four titles. "Against them, you're never comfortable unless you're up three or four goals with very little time left."

Banks wasn't the only person to shine individually for Syracuse. Senior attackman Ryan Powell had three goals and two assists to tie his brother Casey's school record for points (goals plus assists) with 287. Although the game was one-sided throughout, that magic number didn't come until the Carthage, New York, native assisted Ethan Mills with 18 seconds left in the game. Powell, noted for his unselfishness, admitted he was concentrating on tying the record late in the game.

"It was on my mind most of the fourth quarter (which he entered two points shy)," he said in the postgame press conference. "I drew Liam and the guys together (in the closing minutes) to say hey, I've got to get one here, guys."

Finally, it happened.

"It's a great day for two brothers from a small town," Powell said. "I think (tying him) is what I wanted to do all along. I mean, if I could write a storybook ending, that's how I wanted it to be. I said (if Casey and I were tied and) we were up by five or six goals and it came down to 10 seconds left and they had a 10-man ride and the goal was out, I'd pull the ball out and not shoot it."

The end came early for the Tigers. After getting blanked in the first quarter, they opened the second quarter after being called for an illegal stick during the break. That resulted in a man-down situation for three minutes. Although the Tigers allowed only one Powell goal during the span, it made the score 5-0. When Mike Springer made it 6-0 with 7:14 left, the only drama was whether Powell or Banks would get their records.

Princeton coach Bill Tierney, previously 5-0 in title games, saluted both teams after the game.

"As that great philosopher (Syracuse's former hall of fame coach and Desko's predecessor) Roy Simmons Jr. once said, we didn't come here to win the silver but if you have to win the silver, you want to do it to a great team and we lost to a champion out there today. They were fabulous.

"Sometimes you just have to look your kids in the eye and say, you know what, they were better than us. They're just an awesome team."

QUARTERFINALS

Syracuse 17, Georgetown 13; Johns Hopkins 15, Notre Dame 11; Princeton 10, Maryland 7; Virginia 10, Duke 9.

SEMIFINALS

Johns Hopkins scoring -- A.J. Haugen 5, Adam Doneger 2, Rob Frattarola 2, Conor Denihan 1, Dan Denihan 1, Tim Muir 1.

Syracuse scoring -- Liam Banks 3, Ryan Powell 3, Mike Springer 3, Chris Cercy 2, Tim Byrnes 1, Matt Caione 1, Josh Coffman 1.

Shots: Johns Hopkins 51, Syracuse 39. Saves: Johns Hopkins -- Brian Carcaterra 9; Syracuse -- Rob Mulligan 14. Attendance: 24,105.

Princeton scoring -- Sean Hartofilis 5, Josh Sims 3, Brendan Tierney 2, Brad Dumont 1, Chris Harrington 1.

Virginia scoring -- David Bruce 2, Conor Gill 2, Drew McKnight 2, Ian Shure 2, Jason Hard 1, Jay Jalbert 1, A.J. Shannon 1.

Shots: Princeton 36, Virginia 34. Saves: Princeton -- Trevor Tierney 14;Virginia -- Derek Kenney 5. Attendance: 24,105.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Princeton scoring -- Josh Sims 2, Rob Torti 1, Owen Daly 1, Sean Hartofolis 1, Brendan Tierney 1, Matt Striebel 1.

Syracuse scoring -- Liam Banks 6, Ryan Powell 3, Mike Springer 2, Josh Coffman 1, Ethan Mills 1.

Shots: Princeton 32, Syracuse 39. Saves: Princeton -- Trevor Tierney 15, Willis Wu 0; Syracuse -- Rob Mulligan 10; Bob Rust 0. Attendance: 22,880.