With spring break just around the corner, most Virginia students are preoccupied with thoughts of rest and relaxation. The No. 4 men's lacrosse team, however, has another "r-word" on their minds: revenge.
The Cavaliers (1-0) head to No. 1 Syracuse on Saturday to face an Orangeman team (1-0) that beat Virginia twice last season, including once in the NCAA national semifinals to end the season for the Cavaliers. Virginia then travels to Princeton to battle the No. 2 Tigers a week later on March 8.
Although Virginia will be up against some of the toughest competition in the country, the Cavaliers are looking forward to the chance of avenging last year's Final Four loss.
"They're going to pay," Virginia midfielder A.J. Shannon said. "They're going to be a good team, but we're going to take it to them. It's been a long time; our class hasn't beaten them. You don't want to say one game is more important than the other, but this one is important, especially for the seniors. We've had enough of always losing close games to Syracuse."
Both the Cavaliers and the Orangemen opened their schedules last weekend with equally decisive wins, Virginia dismissing Drexel 19-8 and the Orangemen pounding Army 15-7, but Syracuse has had the Cavaliers' number for the last three seasons. Virginia has not beaten the Orangemen since 1999, the year the Cavaliers won the national championship.
This Virginia squad feels they may be the ones to turn the tide. The Cavaliers graduated only two starters from last season while Syracuse lost five.
"They've had a lot of changes on defense," Shannon said. "But, their attack is still dynamite even though they lost [first team All-America Josh] Coffman. We don't know much about their midfield units, but they probably have a lot of guys able to step up."
Last year the Cavaliers fell to the Orangeman at home 15-13 in the season opener. This season, the game will be played in the warmth of the Carrier Dome, a stark contrast to the frigid winter temperature the team has become accustomed to.
"It's going to be 75 degrees," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "We're going to need more players throughout the game because we're not going to have played in conditions like 75 degrees before the game. We haven't taken our sweats off all year."
The unseasonable heat seems only appropriate conditions to play in for a Virginia team that has a burning desire for revenge.
"It's one we've been waiting for for a long time, ever since that last whistle blew in the Final Four," senior midfielder Chris Rotelli said. "We need to play better and pick up the level of intensity, but I think we will."
The Cavaliers defeated national runner-up Princeton at home 13-11 last season, but will have to face the Tigers, last year's national runner-up on enemy turf. Princeton opens its season this Saturday against Johns Hopkins, a rematch of last season's other national semifinal.
While the stakes might not be as high as a Final Four game, the Cavaliers know that both their pride and their reputation are on the line.
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