The time off from classes was no break for the Virginia men’s lacrosse team. From the outset, the Cavaliers were presented with what likely will be their toughest regular season challenge. The team traveled to the Carrier Dome to play then-No. 1 Syracuse. After coming home to a relatively easy next few days — VMI its only opponent — Virginia prepared to face No. 4 Cornell at Klöckner just before the rest of the student body readied to get back into the swing of the spring semester.
The Virginia-Syracuse matchup has become a fairly intense and balanced rivalry in recent history, and this particular contest certainly kept up the expected drama.
The Orange lacrosse team is like the USC Trojan football team or the Duke Blue Devil basketball team. And playing in the Carrier Dome is like Cameron Indoor. Any win on Syracuse’s home turf is a feat in itself — not to mention when the Orange stand undefeated at No. 1 in the nation. Oh yeah, and they are the defending national champs.
These reasons were enough for Virginia to be setting its sights on the game, but even more so, it was personal. Virginia’s run at a national championship ended last year in the NCAA tournament semifinals when it gave up a four-goal fourth-quarter lead, allowing the Orange to force sudden-death overtime and eventually edge the Cavaliers en route to winning it all.
Virginia coach Dom Starsia wouldn’t call the game a chance for revenge — and maybe it wasn’t for the coaches and players. But I can tell you as a Wahoo fan, that is certainly how I was seeing it.
For me, when it comes to Virginia athletics, the Virginia men’s lacrosse team is it. Sure, I follow most collegiate sports. But after watching our football and basketball teams during the fall and winter, I’m ready for some good old fashioned winning — and who knows, maybe a trophy, or at least a postseason.
So when Syracuse took away my team’s chance at a championship last year, in as dramatic a fashion as it did, I was ready to see some payback.
This year, two friends and I drove eight hours both ways to spectate the pinnacle match of the stick-carrying Cavalier regular season. It was worth it. We were fortunate to avoid the freezing rain as we got comfortable inside the dome and were treated to what would hopefully be the first of two Virginia upsets, as the then-No. 4 women’s lacrosse team rolled past then-No. 3 Syracuse prior to the men’s matchup.
After a back-and-forth first half, Virginia began to build a four-goal lead in the third quarter on the back of sophomore midfielder Shamel Bratton, who was on his way to a four-goal game. Superstitious grumblings washed through the Wahoo section of the crowd. The Cavaliers would have to hold onto that lead for one quarter — exactly the same challenge they faced against the Orange just a year ago. It would seem fate is not without a sense of irony.
It continued to get eerier, too. Virginia scored its 13th goal with 7:32 left, taking a five-goal lead and finding the net for the last time that day. Syracuse then launched its counterattack as its fabled fast-pace offense exploded. The Orange scored at will on the Cavaliers and worked away at the lead. Just as I had watched the Virginia lead evaporate against this same team a year ago, it felt like the team I was pulling for was playing from behind, when they actually had a commanding lead.
Coach Starsia told me to expect a close game. He told me to expect Syracuse to play hard for 60 minutes and no less. There would be a lot of ebb and flow to the game, he told me. But as I watched, I began to wonder if there was any lead big enough the Orange could not overcome. Was there any period of time too short for Syracuse to mount a comeback?
The one hope I had was that coach Starsia and the players expected this type of game, so they had to be ready for it — more ready than I was at least.
So, as Syracuse took possession, down one goal with 50 seconds left, I knew Virginia would have to take a stand. The Orange had all the momentum and all the 16,000-plus fans behind them. I knew how the overtime story ended — everyone saw that last year. And this time there would be no Ben Rubeor.
Sure it was only the fifth game of the season; the important games don’t really come until May. But I’m still hoping for an undefeated season — knock on wood. All I can say is that as the clock ran out on the Syracuse game, and the mighty defending champs fell to the mat — thank goodness for Virginia the game is 60 minutes, and not 61.
Read More
Virginia annihilated 41-14 in a must-win contest versus North Carolina
By Peter Kriebel | 1 hours agoJust about everything that could have gone wrong for Virginia football went wrong.
No. 24 women’s soccer not to be denied in late win over Clemson
By Sam Chun | 6 hours agoThe Cavaliers topped Clemson 1-0 in front of a packed out Klöckner Stadium.
Men’s soccer, totally discombobulated, capitulates early to No. 5 Pittsburgh
By Michael Liebermann | 8 hours agoPittsburgh set a program record for the quickest cluster of three goals.
