U.Va. can't hold late leads against Syracuse
Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Virginia led 8-3 and then 9-4 in the third quarter. The Cavaliers led 10-6 early in the fourth. Never, however, did U.Va. goalie Bud Petit believe the orange-clad opponent was vanquished.

"I'd have to be up 20 goals to think it was over," Petit said. "Syracuse is a great team. It was only a matter of time before they made their run."

That run came -- third-seeded Syracuse outscored second-seeded U.Va. 5-2 in the fourth quarter -- and the teams went to sudden-death overtime in this NCAA men's lacrosse semifinal at Gillette Stadium. When the first four-minute OT failed to produce a goal, the teams went to a second.

A third wasn't required. The best player on the field yesterday was Orange attackman Mike Leveille, and the 6-3, 204-pound senior's fifth goal ended this epic battle with 1:43 left in the second overtime to give Syracuse a 12-11 victory.

Leveille got a step on U.Va. defenseman Ken Clausen and unleashed a low shot from 12 yards out. It hit Petit's stick and then his ankle before entering the goal. Petit, a Collegiate School graduate, fell to the turf and lay prone as the realization sank in that his college career was over.

Petit, a graduate student who didn't become U.Va.'s starter until early last month, finished with 16 saves, two off his career high. He made three saves in the extra periods.

"He kept us in it," said attackman Ben Rubeor, who also played his final game for the Cavaliers yesterday. "It's a shame it had to end this way."

Syracuse (15-2) will meet fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins (11-5) for the NCAA title tomorrow at 1 p.m. Hopkins, the defending national champion, stunned No.1 seed Duke 10-9 in yesterday's second semifinal.

Virginia, which beat the'Cuse 14-13 in OT in the regular season, finished 14-4. The Cavaliers were 4-1 in overtime games this season.

Had a Rubeor shot in the second OT been about 2 inches lower and 2 inches to the left, Virginia would be preparing for another meeting with Hopkins. The three-time all-ACC pick fired a shot that Syracuse goalie John Galloway was too late to stop, but the ball hit the spot where the right pipe and the crossbar met. It bounced off the cage and out of bounds, and Syracuse took possession at the 2:29 mark.

"Give Ben the ball again, and I'm pretty sure it's going in," Petit said.

Matt Abbott, whose brother Mike played at Virginia, scored a career-best three goals for the Orange, which before yesterday never had trailed by more than four goals.

U.Va.'s final goal came with 7:52 left in the fourth quarter, when junior attackman Danny Glading (three goals, one assist) scored off a pass from Rubeor. That made it 11-8, but Syracuse answered at the 6:15 mark and again 14 seconds later. Leveille -- who else? -- then tied the game at the 3:00 mark. Virginia needed two saves by Petit in the final 25 seconds of regulation to extend the game.

After Petit intercepted a Leveille pass early in the first overtime, U.Va. called a timeout. The ball went to senior attackman Peter Lamade, behind the cage, passed to junior attackman Garrett Billings, who was open near the crease. Billings shot straight at Galloway, though, and Syracuse cleared. And U.Va. was left to rue a lost opportunity.

"We got exactly what we drew up," U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said.

 

Orange gets UVa in OT
The Cavs fall short of the NCAA lacrosse final in the second sudden-death period.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- For all the success that Virginia had enjoyed in overtime games this season, sometimes it's best to avoid an extra period.

Or periods.

The Cavaliers had won all four of their overtime games before Saturday but had never gone to double overtime before falling to Syracuse 12-11 in the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse semifinals.

A Gillette Stadium crowd of 48,224 also saw defending champion Johns Hopkins knock off top-ranked Duke 10-9 in the other semifinal.

The first game ended with 1:43 remaining in the second of two four-minute overtime periods, when Syracuse attackman Mike Leveille whizzed a low liner past UVa goalie Bud Petit, who had made 16 saves.

It was Leveille's fifth goal of the game. His fourth goal had forced overtime.

Petit said the game-winning goal glanced off his stick and may have hit his ankle.

"At the end of the day, I'd be willing to fight anybody that didn't think it was a good player making a play," UVa coach Dom Starsia said.

The Cavaliers (14-4) had several good scoring opportunities at the end of regulation and overtime, but the game got away during a stretch in the second half when Virginia couldn't protect five-goal leads of 8-3 and 9-4.

Second-seeded UVa led 11-8 with just over five minutes remaining in regulation, but third-seeded Syracuse (15-2) responded with two goals in a span of 2:15.

"Frankly, I thought we got a little tentative when we had the lead." Starsia said. "I think that's human nature. Then, I thought we caught our breath again, so I never felt the game slipping away."

Virginia lost the face-off to start both overtime periods, but that was nothing out of the ordinary as the Orange won 19 of 27 draws. Syracuse senior Danny Brennan leads Division I in face-offs attempted and winning percentage.

The Orange dominated several statistical categories, including shots (47-35).

In addition to three overtime saves, Petit also was responsible for intercepting a centering pass. The Cavaliers got off five shots in overtime, none more dangerous than a blast by Ben Rubeor with 2:29 left in the second overtime.

The ball hit the corner where one of the vertical pipes connects to the crossbar and ricocheted wide of the goal.

"I saw an opening there and just hit the pipe," said Rubeor, a first-team All-American in 2007 who was held to one assist and no goals. "Sometimes, you've just got to make sure you put the ball on goal."

Virginia, which failed to score in the final 13 minutes, had four separate possessions in the first overtime.

"More often than not, overtime games are decided quickly," Starsia said. "It's not often that you go back and forth with what I thought were some very good offensive opportunities for us.

"Every time we came down on offense, I thought we were going to get the ball where we needed to win the game. Every time they went down, I was deathly afraid they might do the same."

On March 1 in Baltimore, Virginia defeated the Orange 14-13 in overtime.

"We've played so many overtime games," said Starsia, whose team was 5-0 in one-goal games before Saturday. "I'm getting too old for this."

Starsia couldn't have expected anything less from a Syracuse-UVa game. In the 24-game history of the series, both teams have won 12 times, with the Orange outscoring the Cavaliers 322-321.

That includes the last double-overtime game in the NCAA semifinals, when Syracuse defeated UVa 12-11 in 2002.

Starsia, who has made 10 trips to the men's lacrosse tournament in 15 seasons at Virginia, has lost five overtime games in either the semifinals or final. He also has taken three NCAA titles back to Charlottesville and should be strong again next year, with Rubeor his most significant loss.

Petit is a fifth-year senior but wasn't the Cavaliers' starting goalie at the beginning of the season. He was a career-long backup before replacing freshman Adam Gittleman in the 11th game, then helped resurrect the season.

"I thanked Bud at the end for being a part of my life for the last five years," Starsia said. "A month ago, I wasn't sure we had the goods to be here. Bud was one of the guys that helped get us here."

 

Syracuse sends UVa packing in double OT
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 24, 2008

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Virginia’s end of the field looked like a battle scene from the movie “Braveheart.”

Bodies were strewn across the grass playing surface. Goalie Bud Petit lay crumpled and motionless.

Meanwhile, Syracuse players raced to the center of the field with their arms raised high in the air. The celebration was on.

The third-seeded Orange, behind five goals from All-American Mike Leveille — including the game-winner with 1:43 left in the second overtime — came all the way back from a five-goal second-half deficit to shock second-seeded Virginia, 12-11, in front of 48,224 fans at Gillette Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Syracuse (15-2) advanced to Monday’s NCAA Tournament final. The Orange will take on Johns Hopkins, which upset No. 1 Duke in the other semifinal.

“Due to a lot of leadership we were able to keep on fighting and fortunately we stuck the last one,” said Syracuse coach John Desko, whose team had lost in overtime to Virginia during the regular season. “We felt fortunate today.”

UVa (14-4), which was bidding to make the finals for the second time in the last three years, saw its season come to a screeching halt.

“It’s hard to know exactly what to say when things end so abruptly and so unexpectedly like that,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia. “I thought the two teams played with a great deal of poise and courage. I’m proud of my team and the effort. I thought both teams made plays late in the game in overtime and we happened to not put a ball in the back of the net and they did.”

Virginia, which had been 8-0 in games in which it had led at halftime, led the Orange, 6-3, at the break.

When freshman Rhamel Bratton scored to make it

8-3 at the 9:06 mark of the third quarter, UVa certainly appeared to be on its way to victory.

Virginia’s offense looked as good as it had all season. Six players accounted for the team’s first six goals.

Meanwhile, the defense — anchored by Petit’s 16 saves — held the high-octane Syracuse snipers in check.

The Orange were able to pull to 10-8 on a goal by Matt Abbott early in the fourth quarter before Danny Glading — who scored a team-high three goals — answered to make it 11-8 with just under eight minutes to play.

However, that ended up being Virginia’s last goal of the season. The Cavaliers’ offense went into a funk from there, and Leveille tied the game with three minutes to play.

In the first overtime, Virginia’s Garrett Billings, Ben Rubeor and Will Barrow all had chances to win the game but were turned away by Orange goalie John Galloway.

Syracuse had plenty of opportunities as well. Petit made some of his best saves of the season to keep Virginia alive. His biggest came on a point-blank shot from Steven Brooks.

“He’s stepped up and sparked us the entire year,” said Virginia senior Ben Rubeor, who was held scoreless for the first time this season. “It was no different today. He kept us in it. He gave us opportunities in overtime.”

Midway through the second overtime, Virginia came within inches of advancing to the championship game.

Rubeor dodged around an Orange defender and fired a shot that would have beaten Galloway. Unfortunately for Wahoo Nation, the ball ricocheted off the right goal post.

“Give Ben that ball again and I’m pretty sure it’s going in,” Petit said. “I’ll take my chances with him.”

Less than a minute later, Leveille beat Petit for the game-winner.

“I knew it was going to go somewhere at my feet,” Petit said, “but there were a lot of legs in the way. Leveille is just a great lacrosse player. That’s why he’s a first-team All-American.

“He just put it low and away on me. I think it hit my stick and then my ankle and then it bounced in. It was a good shot.”

Leveille was thankful that he had a chance to redeem himself after committing what he deemed a “bad turnover” in the first overtime.

“I just wanted to get one on net and I tried to fire one low,” Leveille said. “Fortunately, it went in.”

Petit scoffed at the notion that Virginia may have let down after building such a sizable lead.

“I’m so proud of our team,” said the fifth-year senior. “We fought hard all day. It wasn’t going to be a blowout. Everyone knew that when the score was that big. It’s just tough to handle right now.”

Groundballs

Syracuse outshot Virginia, 47-35 and also held the edge in groundballs, 44-25. … The semifinal attendance of 48,224 was the third-highest of all time. … Virginia’s last overtime game in the NCAA Tournament was a loss to Johns Hopkins in 2005. … The all-time series between Syracuse and Virginia is now tied at 12, including a 4-4 mark in NCAA games. … The Orange will be gunning for their eighth NCAA title, its first since 2004.

 

Syracuse beats Virginia in 2nd OT
Leveille's shot with 1:43 left powers Orange to 12-11 victory
By Edward Lee | Sun reporter
7:46 PM EDT, May 24, 2008
 

 FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Mike Leveille was desperate to make amends.

The senior attackman opened overtime between his Syracuse men's lacrosse team and Virginia with a turnover, and he hungered for another opportunity.

Leveille got his wish and made the most of his second chance when he fired a shot past Cavaliers senior goalkeeper Bud Petit with 1:43 left in the second overtime to power the Orange to a 12-11 victory in an NCAA tournament semifinal before an announced 48,224 at Gillette Stadium today.

With the win, No. 3 seed Syracuse (15-2) advanced to its 15th championship game and will meet No. 5 seed Johns Hopkins (11-5) Monday at 1 p.m. The Blue Jays upended top-seeded Duke (18-2), 10-9, in the other semifinal.

The Orange can thank Leveille, the Tewaaraton Trophy finalist who led all scorers with seven points on five goals and two assists.

Isolated against Cavaliers 6-foot-2, 192-pound sophomore defenseman Ken Clausen, the 6-3, 204-pound Leveille backed his way into the high slot like a center edging his way into the post on a basketball court.

After faking to his left, Leveille spun to his right and fired an ankle-high shot that eluded Petit (16 saves).

"I had a bad turnover early in the first quarter, and I wanted to just get another chance," Leveille said. "I just wanted to get one on net, and I tried to fire one low. Fortunately, it went in."

Syracuse coach John Desko, who has guided the program to three of its nine national championships, said Leveille was actually a second option in the team's strategy.

"In both overtimes, our [discussions in the] timeouts were to run a play and test one of their middies to see if they were going to slide or not," Desko said. "And then the second option was to go to Mike. ... We kind of called his number to dodge on that."

Leveille was particularly instrumental during the Orange's game-ending 8-2 run -- during which he scored four times and helped wipe out two five-goal advantages that Virginia had built in the third quarter.

After fifth-year senior midfielder Peter Lamade had scored to give the No. 2 Cavaliers (14-4) a 9-4 lead with 6:16 left in the period, Syracuse went on a 4-1 run to narrow the gap down to two at 10-8 with 11:05 left in regulation.

Virginia regained a three-goal lead on junior attackman Danny Glading's third goal of the game from a pass by senior attackman Ben Rubeor with 7:52 left. But goals by junior attackman Greg Niewieroski, senior midfielder Brendan Loftus and Leveille in a span of 3 minutes, 15 seconds sent the game into overtime.

After a scoreless first overtime, Rubeor (Loyola), who did not score a goal for the first time since the Cavaliers' 14-8 loss to Delaware in a first-round tournament game last spring, nearly scored the game-winner. But his blast from the right wing appeared to hit the outside part of the apex where the right post and crossbar meet.

"It's tough that a win and a loss is a difference of inches," said Rubeor, a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist. "We had some shots that just hit [freshman goalie John Galloway] and just missed and hit the pipe. It's tough to go out that way, but so it goes. That's sports."

Notes: Today's announced attendance of 48,224 is the fourth-largest to watch a lacrosse game in NCAA history. The record was set last spring when 51,719 watched the NCAA semifinals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. ... When Syracuse junior attackman Kenny Nims scored a goal with 50.9 seconds left in the second quarter, that snapped ended a goalless drought of 22:32 for the Orange.

 

Syracuse Downs Virginia 12-11 in Double Overtime
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/24/2008

FOXBOROUGH, MASS—Mike Leveille’s fifth goal of the game with 1:43 remaining in the second overtime period lifted Syracuse to a 12-11 win over Virginia this afternoon in the first semifinal game of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament.

Leveille’s goal capped a remarkable comeback by the Orange, who rallied from a 5-goal second half deficit to advance to Monday’s final against the winner of the second semifinal contest between Duke and Johns Hopkins. Syracuse’s win ended a 5-game series winning streak by the Cavaliers and knotted the all-time series at 12 wins apiece. Syracuse improves to 15-2 overall this season, while Virginia concludes its season with a 14-4 record.

Danny Glading led the Cavaliers with three goals and one assist, the second time in three playoff games he was the team’s leading scorer.

Virginia erased an early 3-2 Syracuse lead with five consecutive goals over nearly 14 minutes spanning the first and second quarters. Will Barrow tied the score at two with a marvelous coast-to-coast run that culminated with his seventh goal of the season with 6:52 remaining in the first quarter. Max Pomper followed a short time later to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead.

Glading and Brian Carroll opened the second quarter with quick goals and Garrett Billings pushed the Cavalier lead to 6-2 with 8:02 left in the first half. Syracuse’s Kenny Nims scored in the final minute of the first half as Virginia took a 6-3 lead to the locker room at the break.

Virginia’s lead grew to 8-3 midway through the third quarter behind goals from Glading and Rhamel Bratton.

Matt Abbott scored the first of his three goals midway through the third quarter and the Orange outscored the Cavaliers 3-1 to close the quarter.

Billings scored his second of the game with 45 seconds elapsed in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers maintained a 10-6 lead.

Leveille and Abbott scored back-to-back goals to cut UVa’s lead to 10-8 with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Glading notched his third of the afternoon with 7:52 to go in regulation, but it was to be the Cavaliers’ final goal of the contest.

Greg Niewieroski and Brendan Loftus scored 14 seconds apart as Syracuse cut the Cavaliers’ lead to one goal, the closest since early in the first quarter.

Leveille forced overtime with three minutes remaining in regulation.

Bud Petit recorded two of his 16 saves in the first overtime period to highlight a tremendous performance in his final collegiate appearance.

Glading had a chance to win for the Cavaliers in the first overtime period but his shot with 52 seconds left hit the post.

In the second overtime period, Ben Rubeor’s bid for the winner hit the corner of the post with 2:29 remaining with Syracuse backing up to gain possession.

Following a Syracuse timeout, Petit made a save on a shot by Loftus, with Syracuse maintaining possession. Leveille scored the winner with a low shot that got past Petit from eight yards away.


Syracuse 2-1-3-5-0-1—12 record: 15-2
Virginia 3-3-3-2-0-0—11 record: 14-4
att—48,224

Scoring (G-A)— SU: Mike Leveille 5-2, Matt Abbott 3-0, Brendan Loftus 2-0, Greg Niewieroski 1-0, Kenny Nims 1-0, Dan Hardy 0-2, Stephen Keogh 0-1. UVA: Danny Glading 3-1, Garrett Billings 2-0, Brian Carroll 1-1, Will Barrow 1-0, Rhamel Bratton 1-0, Shamel Bratton 1-0, Peter Lamade 1-0, Max Pomper 1-0, Ben Rubeor 0-1, Mike Thompson 0-1.

Goalie Summary—SU: John Galloway 66:17 mins., 9 saves, 11 goals allowed. UVA: Bud Petit 66:17 mins., 16 saves, 12 goals allowed.

Shots: SU—47, UVA—35
Ground Balls: SU —44, UVA —25
Clearing: SU—15x17, UVA—17x18
Faceoffs: SU—19, UVA—8
Penalties: SU—6-4:00, UVA—3-2:30
EMO: SU—2x3, UVA—1x5

 

Syracuse's Matt Abbott enjoys a career day in NCAA semifinals
Posted by Donna Ditota May 24, 2008 4:57PM
Categories: SU lacrosse
By Dick Blume

Foxboro, Mass. - His statistics seldom scream from the page. His unassuming personality lures little attention. But Division I lacrosse coaches tasked with playing against him understand the value Matt Abbott brings to his Syracuse team.

"He's one of those old school middies," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said Saturday, after the Orange defeated the Cavaliers 12-11 in two overtimes. "You have to be a lacrosse coach to love the way he plays. He defends, he's a one-man clearing machine, he picks up every ground ball. And then the final indignity for the opponent was he hit some shots."

Abbott hit three of them to be specific. Each one occurred when the Orange trailed in the game and perched on the edge of elimination.

He scored with Virginia ahead 8-3. He ripped a shot into the upper corner when the Orange trailed 9-5. And he pushed the corner and crammed the ball past Virginia goalie Bud Petit to bring SU to within 10-8.

Those three goals in the national semifinals represented the first hat trick of Abbott's career. And it continued a curious recent trend in national semifinals. In 2002, Tom Hardy's late-game heroics (he scored to put the game into OT and then again to win it in the extra period) bumped the Orange past Virginia. Two years later, Kevin Dougherty's career-high five goals against Johns Hopkins propelled the Orange into the title game.

All of those players trace their roots to Central New York. Hardy is from Tully. Dougherty (Corcoran) and Abbott (Nottingham) were products of Syracuse city schools.

On Saturday, SU coach John Desko peered into Abbott's helmet and saw the determined eyes of a competitor. Abbott, Desko said, wanted the ball.

Coming into the game, Abbott had scored 10 goals in 16 games. But on this afternoon, with 48,224 pairs of eyes focused on him and countless others watching on national TV, Abbott did not defer to his higher-profile teammates.

"Once we started getting down and the first one went in, I guess I figured it's now or never," Abbott said. "If we don't win today, the season's over, these seniors' careers are over. And I definitely didn't want that to happen. So I had a couple opportunities and just took the ball to the cage."

His second goal happened in typical Abbott fashion. He picked up a ball in the defensive end and sprinted to the Virginia goal. Because the Orange was catching the Cavaliers in transition, an offensive midfielder guarded Abbott, who thought about taking his man to the cage.
"But he kept backing up and I saw I was within range," Abbott said. "I kind of got a little screen from him and shot from his hip and it went in the corner."

That made it 9-6 with 1:14 left in the third quarter. And Abbott was not done yet.

With the Orange trailing by three and fewer than 12 minutes left in the game, Abbott brought his man behind the cage. All day, Abbott said, the Virginia defense tried to force him to his right, or weaker hand.

And this time, Abbott drove to his right. "I came around the goal," he said, "and they were a little late on the slide and I just snuck it between Bud's legs."

There was still work for Abbott to complete. He mans the wings on the SU face-off unit, which won 19-of-27 draws against Virginia. He defends six-on-six and when SU goes man-down. He is SU's most dependable option in the clearing game.

His teammates call him "Jaguar Paw" in reference to the Native American character from the movie Apocalypto. "He just runs for days," explained SU middie Brendan Loftus.

Abbott acknowledged he "was pretty gassed" by the fourth quarter and the overtime periods. But spectators would never have guessed by the way he glided over the surface of the Gillette Stadium turf. He attributed his productive afternoon to the play of his teammates, who trusted him with the ball in critical situations and who found him when he wiggled free from his defender. But Starsia knew better. So did Abbott's teammates.

"He's definitely one of our MVPs," SU face-off man Danny Brennan said. "He's a very down-to-earth calm guy. And in close games like this, that's what you need - a guy who can keep everything together and not get too anxious or too nervous with the ball."

 

N.C.A.A. Lacrosse: Syracuse Hangs On
By Pete Thamel

FOXBORO, Mass. – When you cut through all the dazzling saves, near misses and jaw-dropping goals during Syracuse’s 12-11 double-overtime victory against Virginia on Saturday, one statistic jumps off the statistic sheet more than any.
The Virginia star Ben Rubeor had just one point during the final game of his career. Rubeor is a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is given to the country’s top lacrosse player. He took just four total shots on the day. One will stand out. He whipped an open shot from 10 yards out off the corner of the post in double overtime, right where the crossbar meets the pipe. Syracuse scored on the ensuing possession, much to the delight of the pro-Orange crowd of 48,224.
“Its one of those things that’s tough that a win and a loss is a difference in inches,” Rubeor said. “We had some shots that just hit and just missed. It’s tough to go out that way, but that’s how it goes. That’s sports. You have to give credit to them.”
For Syracuse, the credit for shutting down Rubeor goes to the defenseman Sid Smith, who limited his touches early in the game, which prevented Rubeor from getting a groove.
“Sid Smith played one of the best games that I’ve ever seen him play. To be able to stop Rubeor and beat him top side as much as he did. I don’t think any other defender has been able to do that all year. To have him on Rubeor and shutting him out, we’re fortunate to have Sid here.”
 

Dom Starsia Selected to Lacrosse Hall of Fame
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/24/2008

BALTIMORE, MD—Virginia men’s lacrosse Dom Starsia is one of eight individuals who have been selected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. This year’s class will be inducted in a ceremony on Nov. 10 at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md.

One of the most successful coaches in the sport’s history, Starsia has compiled 285-107 record in 26 seasons as a collegiate coach at Brown and Virginia. He stands sixth in college history in wins.

He coached at Brown, his alma mater from 1982 to 1992, compiling a record of 101-46, leading the Bears to two Ivy League titles and five NCAA tournament berths. He was named the USILA Morris Touchstone Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1991.

In 1993, he took over at Virginia and has since led the Cavaliers to three national championships (1999, 2003 and 2006). At Virginia he has a record of 184-61 and has led the Cavaliers to 10 NCAA semifinal appearances.

He was also an outstanding defenseman at Brown where he earned All-America honors twice. Following his collegiate playing career he was a four-time All-Club player and a member of the 1978 U.S. team. He has been inducted into the Brown University Athletic, US Lacrosse New England and Charlottesville Chapter halls of fame. He is being inducted as a truly great coach.

The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame was established in 1957 to honor men and women, past and present, who by their deeds as players, coaches, officials and/or contributors, and by the example of their lives, personify the great contribution of lacrosse to our way of life. More than 325 lacrosse greats are honored in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which is located with the Lacrosse Museum at US Lacrosse Headquarters in Baltimore.

Joining Starsia in the 2008 induction class are:
Roberta Brennan (U.S. National Women’s Team member)
Lynn Craun (umpire)
Pat Dillon (long-time contributor)
Tom Marechek (player at Syracuse)
Chris Sailer (coach at Princeton)
George Tracy (player at Navy)
Dick Watts (long-time contributor)

 

Devvarman makes NCAA history
By Ed Burton
Published: May 24, 2008

TULSA, Okla. — UVa senior Somdev Devvarman became the first player to reach the NCAA singles semifinals in three straight years on Saturday, battling past Baylor sophomore Denes Lukacs, 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

The Hungary-born Lukacs began the match inauspiciously with a double fault. Devvarman, the defending NCAA champion, looked unbeatable as he soared to a 6-0 first set, surrendering only nine points and producing an ace at set point.

Lukacs won his first game of the match as he started off serving in the second set. At 1-1, Devvarman had four break points on Lukacs’ serve, but Lukacs fought his way back each time to eventually hold serve.

Devvarman survived four break points in game eight and knotted the score at 4-4. At 5-5, Devvarman broke Lukacs, but Lukacs broke right back to reach 6-6. Lukacs won the tiebreaker eaily, 7-2.

In the third set, Devvarman and Lukacs traded service holds to reach 2-2. Lukacs reached his high-water mark with a break point on Devvarman’s serve in the fifth game of the third set, but Devvarman held to go up 3-2. Devvarman broke Lukacs in game six with a pinpoint forehand passing shot out of Lukacs’ reach at the net. Devvarman finished off the third set at 6-3.

Devvarman faces Stanford freshman Alex Clayton, the No. 8 seed, in the semifinals today at 1 p.m. Tennessee’s J.P. Smith, another freshman, faces Andre Begemann of Pepperdine in the other semifinal.

Devvarman Advances to NCAA Singles Semifinals
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/24/2008

TULSA, Okla. – Top-seeded Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) reached the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA Singles Championship with a 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-3 win over Denes Lukacs of Baylor at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

Since the NCAA Singles Championship adopted its current format, separating from the team tournament in 1977, Devvarman becomes the first player to reach the semifinals in three consecutive years. The win was Devvarman’s 16th career NCAA Singles Championship victory, extending his tournament record. He improves to 42-1 this season in singles and has won his last 34 consecutive matches.

Devvarman opened the match strong, taking the first set 6-0. It marked the first time Lukacs’ collegiate career that he had ever lost a set 6-0.

Lukacs, a 9-16 seed, rallied to force a tight second set. The match remained on serve until 5-5, although both players held serve in a five-deuce game that featured numerous break points against. Devvarman broke Lukacs at 5-5 to serve for the match, but Lukacs broke back to force a tiebreaker. Lukacs won the tiebreaker 7-2 to take the match to a decisive third set.

In the final set, the match remained on serve until midway through when Devvarman broke Lukacs to take a 4-2 lead. He maintained that one-break advantage and closed out the set 6-3.

The win was the second of the season for Devvarman against Lukacs. In the regular season meeting between Virginia and Baylor on March 1 at the Boyd Tinsley Courts, Devvarman topped Lukacs 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Devvarman will meet Stanford freshman Alex Clayton, the No. 8 seed, in the semifinals Sunday. Clayton defeated Bassam Beidas of Pepperdine 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Devvarman and Clayton have met once this year, with Devvarman winning 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship in November.


 

Baseball Falls to Wake, Readies for Championship Game Sunday
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 05/25/2008

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Virginia lost its final game of pool play at the 2008 ACC Baseball Championship, 7-4 to Wake Forest, Saturday night at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Virginia is the sixth seed and Wake Forest the seventh seed.

The Cavaliers (38-20) already had clinched a berth in the championship game prior to competing Saturday night after wins over No. 1 North Carolina Wednesday and No. 3 Florida State Friday. After finishing this game at 1:09 a.m., Virginia has less than a 12-hour turnaround and will play second-ranked Miami, the tournament’s top seed, at 1 p.m. Sunday.

The game will be televised by FSN South, SUN Sports and Comcast Mid-Atlantic. It also available on WINA Radio (1070 AM) and XM Radio channel 190.

Virginia stole three bases in the game, increasing their school-record total for the season to 132. UVa broke the record Wednesday night.

Brad Kledzik (3-5) earned the win for the Demon Deacons after pitching 7.2 innings and giving up four runs (two earned), seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Matt Hammond pitched the ninth for his first save. Jeff Lorick (So., Duluth, Ga.) took the loss and fell to 3-3 after starting and going 3.2 innings, allowing four earned runs, seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

After three scoreless innings, Wake Forest (25-31) broke the stalemate with four fourth-inning runs, with three coming on a home run to right field by Allan Dykstra. The Demon Deacons added a pair of runs in the fifth inning on a two-run single by Ben Terry.

Virginia got on the board in the sixth inning. Corey Hunt (So., Charlottesville, Va.) led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.) groundout.

Wake got the run back in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by Terry.

Virginia scored three times in the eighth to cut the lead in half at 7-4. With one out, David Coleman (Fr., Richmond, Va.) doubled to score Hunt. Adams then reached on an error that allowed Coleman to cross the plate, and one out later Jarrett Parker (Fr., Stafford, Va.) singled to plate Adams.


 

Canadian player makes commitment to Virginia

Virginia recruiting coordinator Bob Price, formerly a head coach in the Canadian Football League, returned to his old haunts to gain UVa's eight football commitment for 2009.

Brent Urban, a 6-foot-7, 264-pound defensive end from Missisauga, Ontario, informed Price that he is accepting UVa's offer. Urban had 16 tackles for loss as a junior, when he also had 10 sacks and deflected eight passes.

Urban also had offers from Maryland, Louisville, Akron and Connecticut, according to rivals.com.

Virginia also had a Canadian in its 2008 signing class, offensive lineman Austin Pasztor, also from Ontario, by way of Fork Union Military Academy.

-- Doug Doughty