The rain fell steadily over Klockner Stadium on Friday night, and that was about the only consistent thing involving the ACC men’s lacrosse tournament semifinal between Virginia and North Carolina.
Both teams had separate stretches of superb and sloppy play. Each battled Mother Nature as much as the opponent. In the end, the second-seeded Cavaliers were the ones celebrating a 13-12 overtime victory that was more harrowing than a 10-story water slide.
Billy Glading’s goal in the fourth minute of extra time ended a wild contest that featured a succession of dramatic momentum swings. It also sent Virginia (8-2) into Sunday’s championship game against fourth-seeded Duke, a surprise 7-6 winner over top-seeded Maryland.
“Great win, just a great win,” said UVa coach Dom Starsia, whose team is going for its first ACC title since 2000. “Not the cleanest or smartest game we’ve ever played in every instance, but a satisfying one because we just kept battling.”
The third-seeded Tar Heels (5-6) overcame a three-goal deficit in the final minutes of regulation but could not record the game-winner despite an extra-man opportunity in overtime.
John Christmas and Chris Rotelli each notched three goals for the Cavaliers, while Joe Yevoli and Glading scored two apiece.
“It was wild,” Rotelli said. “I thought we played pretty well. I thought we had a chance to put it away. I’m not thrilled we took it to overtime, but it showed great character and a lot of desire to win it that way.”
North Carolina started strong, scoring the first three goals, but the Cavaliers answered with an offensive deluge of their own. They fired in six straight goals over an eight-minute stretch, three by Christmas. It appeared it would be their night when faceoff specialist Jack deVilliers slid in a shot from 15 yards out for his first career goal and a 6-3 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.
But the Tar Heels didn’t fold. They narrowed the deficit to 7-5 by halftime, then scored the first two goals of the second half to tie things up.
Virginia reclaimed the momentum on a lucky bounce. Yevoli’s shot hit the post, then glanced off goalie Paul Spellman into the net with 5:25 left in the third quarter. Kyle Dixon’s goal made it 9-7.
The Cavaliers appeared to be in control midway through the fourth period when Matt Poskay and Rotelli scored consecutive goals to give them a 12-9 cushion. But the Tar Heels staged a miraculous comeback. They beat All-ACC goalie Tillman Johnson, who had been stellar much of the night, for three goals in the final 2:25 of regulation. Jed Prossner’s point-blank shot with 1:20 left forced overtime after both teams committed turnovers in the last minute.
If the Cavaliers were rattled, however, they didn’t show it.
“I thought I saw clear eyes and confident faces in the huddle,” Starsia said. “I was confident we’d win the game if we got the ball back.”
North Carolina got the first good chance during overtime after UVa attackman Matt Ward was called for a 30-second pushing penalty in the third minute. But Johnson redeemed himself with a brilliant save on Prossner’s midrange shot.
UNC midfielder Ryan Blair stepped out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Cavaliers, who wasted little time in ended the affair.
Yevoli threaded a perfect pass to Glading, who cut into the middle and ripped an eight-yard shot past Spellman.
“I just told myself to keep running inside,” Glading said. “They were all over me inside all night, but I just made sure to keep running there. Joe made a great play to find me and I was fortunate to put it in.”

Something about the ACC tournament seems to bring out the best in A.J. Kincel and the rest of the Duke men’s lacrosse team.
Kincel, a former St. Anne’s-Belfield standout, made 12 saves as the fourth-seeded Blue Devils upset top-seeded Maryland, 7-6, in the ACC semifinals Friday night at Klockner Stadium. His kick save on Ryan Moran’s shot as time expired allowed the two-time defending champions to advance to Sunday’s title game against Virginia.
“It’s been a crazy year. We’ve been trying to put things together for a long time,” Kincel said. “Hopefully we’re just getting started.”
The Blue Devils (8-5) went 0-3 in conference play during the regular season, including a 13-7 loss at Maryland on March 2, but they raised their level of play in the postseason. As usual. Over the past three years, they are 3-6 against ACC opponents in the regular season, but 5-0 in the conference tournament.
Kincel, a fifth-year senior, was the MVP of last year’s tourney and is halfway to earning that honor again. He made three saves in the final five minutes, including two with his feet.
“That’s A.J.,” said Duke coach Mike Pressler. “That’s why we brought him back for a fifth year. We think he’s one of the best around. He probably had his worst game against Virginia last week. But A.J. has never had two average games in a row. He reminded me of that this week.”
Kincel made eight saves in an 11-8 loss to the Cavaliers last Saturday, just the fifth time in 28 starts that he has had fewer saves than goals allowed. But he was superb in a heavy downpour against the Terrapins (7-3), who mustered only two goals in the first half and went 0 for 3 in extra-man opportunities, including a two-man advantage late in the second quarter.
“When I saw the rain, I knew it was going to be a big disadvantage shooting against A.J.,” said Maryland coach Dave Cottle. “We beat him with some high bounce shots the first time we played and we couldn’t do that tonight. I knew we would struggle scoring against him.”
Kevin Caccese and Matt Rewkowski each had three goals for Duke, which jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and held on the rest of the way.
Moran scored three times for Maryland, all on shots while running to his right. The Terrapins closed within one goal on three occasions but never could get the equalizer.
Down 7-4, Maryland made things interesting on goals by Moran and Joe Walters in the fourth quarter. A turnover gave the Terrapins a final opportunity in the waning seconds. Moran split two defenders on the full run and unleashed a low shot from 15 yards that Kincel blocked as the buzzer sounded.
“I told the team at the [pregame] meal it was going to be a memorable day,” Pressler said. “Not for the outcome, but that we were going to put it together for four quarters. We hadn’t done that in 12 games, and that’s all I care about.”

Those tremors you felt up and down the Eastern Seaboard the last couple of days didn’t come from Mother Nature but rather the feud that has developed between the Big East and the ACC.
There was never much love lost between these two major conferences that battle over fertile recruiting territory. Now, a war of words has broken the ice.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese drew first blood when he accused the ACC of trying to undermine his league by attempting to steal teams, which would eventually result in the collapse of the 14-team conference. ACC commissioner John Swofford offered a diplomatic response to Tranghese’s accusations, but didn’t deny the accuracy of the claim.
Public battle
Tranghese unleashed on the nine-member ACC, saying that the league has approached four Big East schools, Virginia Tech, Miami, Syracuse and Boston College about defecting and joining the ACC. According to the Big East commish, the lure is purely football driven in order to give the ACC a dozen schools, which would allow the league to split into two divisions and conduct a lucrative conference championship game.
“I have no use for the ACC right now,” Tranghese told the New York Daily News. “They’re a bunch of hypocrites. They operate in the dark. They’ll never acknowledge this, but I’m aware the ACC for the last couple of years, without ever picking up the phone or calling me, has basically gone out and tried to convince our teams to enter their league.
“They have already made two presentations to the University of Miami — and have been turned down — but they continue to come back, hoping to get the right answer. They’ve gone to Syracuse, Boston College and Virginia Tech.”
Well, whoopty-do.
Last time I checked, it’s a free country.
Past attempts
According to my ACC sources, Miami approached the league two years ago and at that time was shot down by the ACC, which wasn’t interested in expanding at that time. The conference attempted to get Syracuse in the early ‘90s when Charlottesville’s own, Gene Corrigan, ruled over the ACC but the Orangemen were interested in a conditional deal. They would compete in the ACC in all sports but basketball, where they would remain in the Big East.
The ACC wisely said, no deal. That’s when Florida State gladly jumped at the invitation, which is exactly what Virginia Tech would probably do if given the opportunity. Tech has tried numerous times to drum up enough support from league members to join the ACC but never got over the hump.
Tech would have more natural rivals and less travel complications in an expanded ACC. Boston College is, well, in Boston. Say no more.
“The ACC is entitled to go after another school,” said Tranghese. “Just pick up the phone and tell somebody. Instead, they conduct their business through the press, commissioners, and emissaries. I told our presidents I have a great deal of resentment about that.
“But the ACC has tried to con-
quer by dividing. They whisper things to each person. They’re trying to intimidate those schools, telling them, ‘The Big East will not be a viable conference in the future and you could be left out if you don’t come on board.”
For years, there have been rumors about the possible demise of the Big East if Syracuse decided to bolt for another league. However, if Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College defected, it would signal the end of Big East football regardless of Syracuse’s choice.
Can you imagine what would happen if that league was left with West Virginia, Rutgers, Pitt and UConn (which will replace Temple as a member in two years)? You can add or delete Syracuse from the mix and it really would become the Big Least.
Swofford, who obviously doesn’t want to wage verbal warfare through media, released a statement after calling Tranghese about the remarks.
“Expansion is a subject that the ACC has periodically addressed since Florida State joined the league in 1991,” said Swofford. “With the changing landscape in conference affiliations over the last decade, I think the ACC, or any other league would be remiss if it did not evaluate where things stand and what impact that landscape has.
“We have also had inquiries from schools during this period of time. Our conference has never reached a consensus on expanding beyond our current members but I do believe that our institutions feel it is a subject that should not be ignored.”
There has been a growing feeling among ACC football coaches for several years that the league should expand for several reasons: TV markets, more exposure for recruiting purposes, more bowl opportunities and more representation in the BCS to name a few.
“This has nothing to do with basketball,” said Tranghese. “The addition will not help them in basketball. It will hurt them. I’d like to know if the ACC has picked up the phone and told Roy Williams or Mike Krzyzewski it was expanding. If they want to compare what they’ve done and what we’ve done on the field, be my guest.”
Even though Syracuse won the national basketball championship, I can’t see Krzyzewski or Williams backing down from the challenge. I don’t think they’d sweat facing the Hurricanes, Hokies or Eagles.
“Obviously, conference affiliation is a two-way street and reacting publicly to informal conversations and rumors serves no purpose,” said Swofford. “I will say that no offers have been made to any institution since Florida State joined the league.”
The ACC requires seven of its nine members to approve a new member and the league has not reached that point of consensus, although sources indicate there was quite a rumble when the Miami issue cropped up a few years ago. Supposedly, Georgia Tech was pushing hard for expansion and was supported by Florida State but didn’t get enough support to officially make a move.
“I am totally comfortable with the way our league conducts its business and I feel like the relationship between the schools in the ACC and the Big East is good,” said Swofford, “which is why I find the comments from the Big East office on this issue unfortunate.”
Swofford is exactly right. The ACC should be able to feel out any school it desires. It’s not like he’s holding a gun to those Big East schools and saying, join us or else.
Tranghese didn’t just stop there. He accused the ACC of undermining Pitt’s attempt to hire Skip Prosser away from Wake Forest this week.
“Skip has every right to go to either Pitt or Wake,” said the Big East boss man. “But it’s obvious [ACC] people in power got to him and convinced him our league would not be there. The ACC, probably more than anybody else, has tried to disrupt our conference for a long time. They haven’t done it yet. And, as long as I’m here, they’re not going to do it.”
Hey, Mike, don’t bet the mortgage on it.