5/21/02 - Usual Suspects

By JOHN GALINSKY
Daily Progress staff writer

Princeton coach Bill Tierney calls it “the most crazy year I can remember” in college lacrosse.
There were surprising upsets throughout the regular season. There was uncommon parity among the top dozen or so teams. For the first time, all four of the NCAA tournament quarterfinal games were decided by a single goal.
Yet at the end, look who’s still around: Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Virginia and Princeton. The four premier programs in the country will take their usual spots in the final four held this weekend at Rutgers.
“In a year that has been so crazy with all these upsets predicted, it’s interesting that these four teams are back,” Tierney said.
Interesting, but not shocking. After all, the fab four have reigned as lacrosse royalty for the past decade (and in the case of Johns Hopkins and Syracuse, even longer). They have combined to win the past nine national championships and have taken up 31 of 40 semifinal spots in the past 10 NCAA tournaments.
The same teams comprised the final four in 2000, when Syracuse beat Princeton for the title. (Princeton turned the tables in last year’s final.)
Virginia and Johns Hopkins fell in the quarterfinals last season, but all four are back in their accustomed places for lacrosse’s biggest showcase event.
Top-seeded Johns Hopkins (12-1) will face fourth-seeded Princeton (9-4) in Saturday’s first semifinal at 11:30 a.m. Second-seeded Syracuse (13-2) and third-seeded Virginia (11-3) resume their rivalry 45 minutes after the conclusion of the opener. The winners meet on Memorial Day at 11 a.m.
“I believe the four best teams in the country are in the final four and there will be outstanding games this weekend,” Tierney said.
All four survived their quarterfinal games by the slimmest of margins. On Saturday, Princeton edged Georgetown, 14-13, and Syracuse snuck past Duke, 10-9. On Sunday, Johns Hopkins outlasted UMass, 13-12, in overtime, followed by Virginia’s 11-10 nail-biter over Cornell.
As Orangemen coach John Desko said, “We were all one goal away from watching the [semifinal] games rather than playing in them.”
Those results guaranteed rematches of regular-season games.
All four teams played each other in March. No team dominated the others as Virginia, Syracuse and Johns Hopkins went 2-1 in those games. Princeton went 0-3 but has since won seven straight games.
“I feel like we’re back in the month of March again,” said UVa coach Dom Starsia, whose team lost at home to Syracuse, 15-13, on March 2. “These are four programs who know each other well and think about each other all the time.”
The Cavaliers handed Johns Hopkins its only defeat, 12-6, on March 23. Two weeks earlier, they earned a 13-11 triumph over Princeton.
The Blue Jays beat Syracuse and Princeton during the same month, but none of the coaches believe the March outcomes will have much impact in May.
“We’ve all evolved,” Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. “Every one of our teams has evolved.”
One thing that hasn’t changed, despite the craziness of the season, is the identity of the elite programs.
“The bottom line is there’s parity in the sport of college lacrosse, but we’re all thankful to get here,” Pietramala said. “I was talking to Dom [on Monday] and we both said how wonderful it was to see these four teams as the last ones standing.”

Not to alarm those of you out there who think the sun rises and sets on University Hall, the Dean Dome and other hoops emporiums from Tallahassee to College Park, but ACC basketball might be in a little bit of a mess.

Yes, the ACC owns the past two NCAA championship trophies. Yes, the ACC leads the free world in Sweet 16 appearances, TV exposure and self-promotion. Yes, all nine members will trot out squads in November for another season of spinning turnstiles and gaudy Nielsens.

No, it won't be business as usual.

You could put together a lovely little basketball team with Jay "Don't Call Me Jason or Even Hint I Use 'Firearms' and 'Chauffeur' in the Same Sentence" Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer, Chris Wilcox and Roger Mason. You could. Voters holding all-ACC ballots won't (not unless Dunleavy, who's waffling, does a 180).

In another era (i.e., before agents, draft lotteries and Kevin Garnett), those players would be suiting up in 2002-03 for scholarships and free textbooks - the first three guys at Duke, Wilcox at Maryland, Mason at Virginia. But everyone's in a rush to get to "the next level" and cash in these days, and not even road trips to Littlejohn Coliseum are enough of an enticement to keep ACC headliners from bolting.

Their defections will knock the ACC down a peg or two. Yeah, Duke and North Carolina are loading up with pedigreed freshman classes, and Maryland likely won't drop off the map. And double yeah, there's always a chance Dunleavy and Mason might reconsider and opt for a final year of library stacks and hitting up mommy and daddy for pizza money.

But don't hold your breath on that last count. Dunleavy could go as high as top five in the June roll call. Mason is listed as a first-rounder in a couple of surveys and is said to be committed to this venture even if 37 schoolboys and Europeans flood the draft and he falls to second-round status. Both might benefit from another season of college ball. The ACC absolutely would.

Dunleavy's departure is the stunner. If he sticks around, he goes off as the odds-on favorite for player of the year. Nationally. He's 6-9 and can torch you from 3-point range. He has snaky moves and considerable savvy. He gives good sound bites. He's got the whole poster-boy package.

Frankly, Dunleavy always had the look of a four-year guy - another Grant Hill, another Shane Battier. But he's also the son of an NBA coaching veteran who's able to negotiate the landscape in his sleep and knows the value of a 6-9 swingman who can dunk, dish and drain shots from impossible distances.

Whatever the case, Dunleavy's fadeout (presuming its irrevocable) diminishes college basketball, the ACC and Duke in no particular order. Oh, sure, the Blue Devils will still have Chris Duhon, Dahntay Jones, Daniel Ewing and a touted rookie six-pack. They figure to be good - maybe even good enough to finish atop the league standings for a seventh straight time. But they won't be ceded pole position in the race for the next NCAA title. Who will? Think Arizona.

Any instability in Duke's foundation is always applauded down the road in Chapel Hill, but UNC has issues of its own. Departing senior Jason Capel and outta-here transfers Brian Morrison and Adam Boone took swipes at Matt Doherty as they hit the highway, and even freshmen Jawad Williams and Jackie Manuel expressed reservations about their hot-wired coach.

Doherty's lined up some top-shelf prospects for fall delivery. But any more erosion in the product, and the buzzards will begin circling.

Elsewhere, Maryland won't be nearly as potent without Wilcox to soften the blow from Juan Dixon's departure. N.C. State will miss the ballhandling and leadership of Anthony Grundy and Archie Miller. U.Va. could be intriguing if it decides to play some defense and transfers Devin Smith and Todd Billet are as productive as advertised. Wake Forest is retooling and might be pretty good. Paul Hewitt is fashioning the next major challenge to Duke down at Georgia Tech and could make a move next season.

But nobody looks like a Duke or Maryland of the past two years - a powerhouse, a Final Four stalker. Time for the ACC to take a step back and maybe count its losses more than its wins.

BALTIMORE - Graduation was yesterday at the University of Virginia, but Conor Gill and his fellow seniors on the men's lacrosse team were otherwise occupied and couldn't make it. Not to worry. They returned to Charlottesville last night and will be recognized today in a special ceremony.

"I'm glad we're going back this way instead of losing," Gill said yesterday at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field.

For that, the Cavaliers have Gill to thank. Behind an extraordinary performance by the two-time first-team All-America attackman, third-seeded Virginia edged sixth-seeded Cornell 11-10 in an NCAA quarterfinal.

A crowd of about 8,000 saw Gill, in his final collegiate game in his hometown, set an NCAA tournament record with nine assists. He added a goal to finish with a career-high 10 points.

"He was unbelievable," teammate John Christmas said. "He's definitely considered one of the greatest players ever to play the game."

The only U.Va. goal in which Gill didn't play a direct role was the game-winner. Christmas, a freshman, failed to score in the first 56 minutes and "was thinking it might not be my day," he said. But with the score tied, and Cornell seemingly on the verge of a stunning comeback victory, the all-ACC attackman finally broke through.

Christmas took a pass from classmate Joe Yevoli (four goals) in front of the cage and scored to make it 11-10 with 3:59 left. The Cavaliers (11-3) held the Big Red (11-4) without a shot the rest of the way to advance to the NCAA final four for the third time in four seasons.

Cornell rallied from a five-goal second-half deficit to pull even in the fourth quarter. On the Big Red's final possession, however, defenseman David Burman knocked the ball out of the stick of attackman Scott Lee, who was getting ready to shoot, and U.Va. regained possession with 15 seconds left.

"We got rattled during the course of the game - give some credit to Cornell for that - but we came back and made plays at the end," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said, "and won an awfully important game for us and our program."

U.Va. will face second-seeded Syracuse (13-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. When these teams met March 2 at Klockner Stadium, the Orangemen prevailed 15-13.

Defending champion Princeton, the No. 4 seed, will play top-seeded Johns Hopkins in Saturday's first semifinal at 11:30 a.m. All four of the remaining teams won by a single goal in the quarterfinals, an NCAA tournament first.

U.Va. lost the opening faceoff yesterday and gave up a goal 11 seconds into the game. But Gill's unassisted goal about three minutes later made it 1-1, and the Cavaliers never trailed thereafter. They led 6-3 at halftime and 8-3 with 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Earlier in the day, however, Massachusetts had run off eight straight goals to take a 10-8 lead on Hopkins on the same field, and Cornell stormed back in similar fashion.

The Big Red scored four consecutive goals before all-ACC midfielder Chris Rotelli converted a pass from Gill - who else? - to give the Cavs a 9-7 lead with 12:28 left. Rotelli's third goal gave Virginia a 10-9 lead with 6:37 left, but Cornell's star attackman, Sean Greenhalgh, held in check most of the game, answered 41 seconds later.

"It got a little nervous at the end, but we'll take it," Gill said.

BALTIMORE, May 19 -- Conor Gill had a hand in the first 10 Virginia goals. He scored the Cavaliers' first goal and proceeded to set an NCAA tournament record with nine assists. However, the goal Gill had nothing to do with sent the Cavaliers back to the national semifinals.

John Christmas took a great feed from Joe Yevoli and scored with 3 minutes 59 seconds left to give third-seeded Virginia an 11-10 victory over sixth-seeded Cornell in an NCAA lacrosse quarterfinal game today at Johns Hopkins.

The Cavaliers (11-3) advanced to Saturday's national semifinal against second-seeded Syracuse at Rutgers. The Orangemen beat Virginia, 15-13, in a regular season meeting on March 2. Top-seeded Johns Hopkins will play fourth-seeded Princeton in the other semifinal.

The Cornell defense worked hard at sealing off the crease but often left Gill with lots of room to work behind the goal. Gill, the ACC leader in assists the past three seasons, found plenty of time to find his teammates with long, pinpoint passes.

"The lanes were open, and I saw the guys pretty easily," said Gill, who went to high school at nearby St. Paul's. "It all worked [out]."

"The way that Cornell chose to defend, I thought opened up the field for Conor," Starsia said. "I've always said the quarterfinal is a bear of a game. We're very pleased to get this win."

Yevoli (four goals, one assist) and Chris Rotelli (three goals) helped the Cavaliers open an 8-3 lead in the third quarter. However, Cornell (11-4) began winning faceoffs and scored six of the next seven goals to tie the score at 9 early in the fourth quarter. The Big Red won 9 of 14 second-half faceoffs and outshot Virginia 18-10 in the final two quarters.

After Rotelli scored off Gill's feed to give Virginia a 10-9 lead with 6:37 left, Cornell tied it 41 seconds later on a goal by Sean Greenhalgh.

That set up the game-winning play. Yevoli was on the left side of the field and saw Christmas open in front after cutting to the cage.

"The slide came, and I saw that John was sitting there with his stick open," Yevoli said. Cornell goalie Justin Cynar (10 saves) had no chance on the play. Cynar didn't have a save in the fourth quarter, but Virginia goalie Tillman Johnson made three of his 10 stops and helped the Cavaliers hang on.

Maybe it is the thick mop of hair, the slight, 6-foot, 165-pound frame or the mischievous grin. Jay Pfeifer could be taken for a beach bum, class clown or accountant.

But big-time Division I athlete? No way.

Try lacrosse player. Goalie, to be more specific.

Pfeifer, pronounced "Pie-fer," is the first freshman to start in the cage for Syracuse since 1987. The Gilman alumnus, the son of Jerry Pfeifer, a former football coach and lacrosse assistant at Johns Hopkins, is the wild card on a Syracuse team that is loaded with All-Americans on both ends.

"Everyone knows our offense can score and our defense is good," Pfeifer said. "I think a lot of it depends on me. If I don't have a good game, like against Cornell [a 15-11 loss], it could turn into a losing effort."

Syracuse (12-2), ranked No. 2, will play Virginia on Saturday in the second NCAA semifinal game at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. The opener will pit Johns Hopkins against Princeton.

It is the 20th straight final four berth for the Orangemen, who started the season with a major question mark in goal. The graduated Rob Mulligan had led the Orange to a national title and three final-game appearances.

Pfeifer, who redshirted last year, won the starting job in the preseason, beating out senior Alex Mummolo and sophomore Nick Donatelli.

What has followed has been the typical roller-coaster ride that many freshmen endure.

The highs include a 15-save effort to keep the sluggish Orangemen close, before they eventually fell to Johns Hopkins in mid-March.

Then there have been times when he has struggled. His .532 save percentage attests to that.

Against the Big Red, he let in 15 goals on just 31 shots. He surrendered 14 goals in the regular-season finale against Georgetown.

But as he has done all season, Pfeifer has bounced back, displaying a short-term memory that is essential for a goalie.

He credits his father, a former player and goalie coach for the Blue Jays, for keeping him focused on the fundamentals.

"I see a lot of goalies get scored on and throw their sticks or yell at their defenders or just start spazzing out, but you can't do that," Pfeifer said. "The ball is going to go in the back of the net; you just have to get the next one."

In Syracuse's first scrimmage, against Navy, which came just days after Pfeifer was anointed the starter, he made one save and allowed five goals before being replaced in the second half.

Seven days later, his 16 saves in a scrimmage against Maryland impressed Syracuse coach John Desko.

His teammates sung his praises this past Saturday, when Pfeifer limited Duke with nine saves, but more importantly, stepped into a leadership role on a defense that includes veteran captains John Glatzel, Sol Bliss and Billy St. George.

Such a step hasn't been easy for Pfeifer, who acknowledges that at the beginning of the season, he doubted any of the three veterans -- two of whom are All-Americans -- were listening at all.

St. George's comments after the quarterfinal game implied that has changed.

He said: "I think that was the best he's played. He played with so much confidence and took control of the defense."

Pfeifer's effort, which included a highlight-reel, diving stop against Duke's Matt Rewkowski early in the fourth quarter, wasn't confined to his goal crease.

Directing a clear in the second quarter, Pfeifer took the ball into the Duke zone and fired a shot that rang off the post.

He later joked that he should be included in the shooting lines during this week's practices.

Pfeifer, known for a deep arsenal of one-liners and impressions, has kept his sense of humor throughout the season. After much prodding, he once surprised his teammates by donning a pair of bright-orange Syracuse football pants, embroidered with his number, 2.

But his fashion sense and the pants' limited padding have kept them in his locker, even though he played extremely well when he wore them.

"I was going to keep wearing them until I saw pictures and realized how skinny my legs look," he said, adding he needs to do squats this summer.

"I felt a little weird in them -- like everyone was staring at me."

He will be in the spotlight again this weekend. At Syracuse, players are defined by what they do in May.

"It would have been great to have won and played great in every game," Pfeifer said. "I've been through the good and the bad, but we've made it here. We're in the final four."