In its 40-year history, there have been too many memorable moments at the Carrier Dome for any of us to count, from the shocking win over then-No. 1 Nebraska in 1984, to Pearl Washington’s half-court heave and immediate exit to beat Boston College in 1984, to Michael Owens’ scamper to the pylon for a two-point conversion against West Virginia to keep the unbeaten season alive in 1987.

The list literally goes on, and on, and on, so we decided to narrow our top moments list to the Spectrum News era, which runs from November 2003 to today. We narrowed the list even further to include only SU sporting events, and further yet down to our top five. Hopefully, we didn’t leave too many out, but if we did, please let us know!

NO. 5 - SU-Duke Men’s Basketball, the First Time as ACC Foes

February 1, 2014 was already going to go down in history as the first time the two winningest coaches in college basketball history, good friends Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski, met inside the Carrier Dome. But, there were plenty of other reasons why it became one of the building’s best moments in recent memory.

A new Dome-record 35,446 would be in attendance, as would ESPN’s signature show, “GameDay”, so the stage was set for the primetime showdown. Throw in the fact Syracuse had tied the program record with a 20-0 start to the season and was ranked No. 2 in the polls, and the storylines were aplenty. Then, the game tipped off.

Syracuse had a three-point lead with seconds to go in regulation, but Rasheed Sulaimon threw in a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. SU eventually pulled the game out at the free-throw line, 91-89 behind new career-highs 24 points and 12 rebounds from budding star, Jerami Grant. Just three weeks later, Boeheim would create another signature moment by tearing his jacket off and getting ejected in the rematch at Cameron Indoor Stadium. But, this game set the tone for SU’s newest and most ferocious rivalry.

NO. 4 - Pistol Petey’s 45-Point Eruption vs N.C. State

Before there was Tiana Mangakahia there was Alexis Peterson tearing up opposing ACC defenses.

In 2016, Syracuse went 30-5 and hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, a first for the program. The Cinderella run marched all the way to the NCAA title game before the Orange fell to powerhouse UCONN and Breanna Stewart. Because of this run SU has been in forefront of the recruiting trail. Players like Peterson has opened up the pipeline for top talent to choose the Salt City.

After the magical run of 2016 Alexis proved she was one of the best players in the country. Peterson earned 2017 ACC Player of the Year honors, leading the conference in scoring.

Perhaps what brought home that crown was this January contest against the ranked Wolfpack. 28-of-her-45 came in the second half, and more impressively, 21-of-those-second-half points came in the 4^th quarter.

2017 didn’t end with a magical run in the NCAA tournament, but Petey cemented herself as one of the best players to ever suit up for the Orange.

NO. 3 - Mikey Powell’s “The Flip” vs UMass on Senior Day, 2004

At No. 3, the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team makes an appearance in one of the most memorable lax moments ever at the Dome, second only to Gary Gait’s “Air Gait” move in the 1988 NCAA Semifinals. Of course, that was a good 15 years before Spectrum News was born, so we’ll have to stick with Mikey for our countdown’s purposes.

In the days leading up to his final regular season home game, the eventual all-time top scorer in program history (surpassing his older brothers Ryan and Casey) was promising the local media not a victory, but a “special move” that he was planning to pull off. After scoring a new career-best six goals against the UMass Minutemen, Powell decided to unveil “The Move” in the final quarter with Syracuse comfortably in front.

While cradling the ball in his stick, Powell started his run toward the cage from the left wing. And, with no defender within 10 yards of him, suddenly… he executed a perfect front-flip, and upon sticking the landing fired the ball toward the cage. Unfortunately, the ball ricocheted off a defender’s helmet and did not find the back of the cage. Regardless, it’s still one of the most amazing things I’ve seen on a lacrosse field, and something nobody else would have dared to try.

NO. 2 - SU Football Upsets No. 2 Clemson, 27-24 on Friday the 13th

“The nation doesn’t know it yet, but the greatest homefield advantage in college football is in Syracuse, New York!”

Those are the words spoken by Syracuse football coach Dino Babers the first time he addressed the crowd inside The Dome during an Orange basketball game. And while the proclamation of having the best homefield advantage might not be fully realized, for one October-night in 2017 it was.

Those are words we wrote when selecting this moment as one of our best when it selected for our top ten in July. And they ring even more true today as we unveil this list.

SU, with Eric Dungey at quarterback, was able to take down No. 2 Clemson inside The Loud House. Dungey accounted for 339 total yards and threw for three scores in the 27-24 win.

On Friday the 13^th, Syracuse was Jason Voorhees and the Tigers were unsuspecting campers at Crystal Lake. Instead of slowly creeping up on its victim, SU pounded the defending national champs into submission on defense and electrified on offense.

It’s the moment of the Dino Babers era and it helped propel Syracuse to a 10-win season the following year and certainly worthy of the second spot in our countdown.

NO. 1 - John Gillon’s Buzzer-Beating Bank Shot Beats Duke

I can’t help but think we’re suffering from the recency effect, with yet another memorable moment from 2017. But, considering we are only working with a 17-year span for this countdown, one could argue the entire thing is a tad too recent. Nevertheless, our No. 1 memorable Dome moment of the Spectrum News era was a shot reminiscent of what might be the most memorable thing ever to happen in the arena’s 40-year history.

Syracuse was fighting for its NCAA Tournament life back in February of 2017, and John Gillon pumped some serious life into the resume by going on a mission in the second half against, who else, the Duke Blue Devils. Gillon poured in 19 second-half points to bring the Orange to the brink, and with the game tied at 75 and seconds to play, took a pass from Tyus Battle in the backcourt and attacked. Shortly after crossing midcourt, Gillon pulled up and let fly. And then everything went into slow motion.

After what seemed like an eternity, the ball banked off the backboard and through the rim as the buzzer sounded and time ran out, and the crowd of 30,000 plus almost blew the lid off the place. Unlike Pearl Washington after his half-court game-winner against Boston College 33 years prior, Gillon chose not to make a hasty exit down the locker room tunnel and instead, accepted the congratulations of his teammates and thousands of SU fans who streamed onto the court in a frenzied celebration. Syracuse had knocked off the No. 10 team in the country, notching its fourth top 10 upset of the season. Even though it turned out not to be enough to lift the Orange into the NCAA Tournament, it’s still the most dramatic shot I’ve seen at the Dome in 17 years covering the ‘Cuse, and it’s a memory I won’t forget. It’s helped make the annual SU-Duke Dome game a must-see event!