Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 29, 1994 TAG: 9405290064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: Medium
UVa, returning to the site of its only NCAA men's lacrosse championship, stunned top-seeded Syracuse 15-14 before a crowd of 23,728 at Byrd Stadium.
The Cavaliers, who trailed 12-7 after three periods, tied the score with 49 seconds remaining in regulation and ended it on Michael Watson's third goal of the game, after 2 minutes, 10 seconds of overtime.
"At the end of the third quarter, the outcome wasn't the most important thing to me," said Dom Starsia, Virginia's coach. "The fight was the most important thing."
Starsia, in his second year at UVa, said he is building for the long term, but that hasn't prevented the Cavaliers (13-3) from reaching the championship game at noon Monday against second-seeded Princeton (13-1).
The Tigers, 10-7 winners over Brown in the second semifinal, defeated UVa 14-6 during the regular season, but the Cavaliers showed Saturday that appearances can be deceiving. Syracuse had dominated Virginia in a fall scrimmage in Baltimore.
"I can assure you, it was a different team today than it was last October," said Roy Simmons Jr., Syracuse's coach. "They've developed a lot of character; they're to be commended for not losing heart."
Syracuse (13-2) led 5-1 after a first quarter in which UVa goalie James Ireland failed to make a save, and it was 8-3 before the Cavaliers launched their first comeback against the 1993 NCAA champions.
Virginia closed to 8-7 on a goal to open the third period, but the Orangemen responded with a four-goal flurry that caused Starsia to replace Ireland with Court Durling - momentarily - to start the final quarter.
By all accounts, the turning point came when Syracuse, still safely ahead at 12-8, went on a two-man advantage after Virginia was whistled for two penalties with 13:29 remaining.
Not only didn't the Orangemen score, but a turnover resulted in a three-on-one break and a goal by UVa's Tim Whiteley with 12:55 left. It was the second of six goals by the Cavaliers in less than 3 1/2 minutes.
"How disheartening!" Simmons said. "Not only did they score [while two men down], but they lifted the penalties. We should be money in the bank with the firepower we have."
It looked like the comeback might be for naught when Syracuse took a 14-13 lead with 3:31 left, but UVa freshman Doug Knight scored his only goal to send the game into overtime.
Again, it was advantage Syracuse when UVa's Tony Nugent was called for slashing to start the overtime, "and we had a player open on the extra-man," Simmons said, "but we couldn't execute the pass. We gave it away."
The winning goal came on a one-on-one move from the right wing by Watson, who got a step on Ric Beardsley, described in the Syracuse media guide as the "premier defenseman in the country," and rifled the ball over the right shoulder of goalie Alex Rosier.
Watson, who also had a key goal in UVa's 12-10 victory over North Carolina in the quarterfinal round, seemed to run from his teammates as they sprinted onto the field in jubilation.
"I'm actually a little claustrophobic," said Watson, the ACC's rookie of the year. "I didn't want to get caught at the bottom of the pile, but Andrew Dausch, a football player, ended up tackling me."
Whiteley, who played with Watson at St. Paul's School in Baltimore, had a game-high seven points on two goals and five assists. Like Watson, junior midfielder David Jones had three goals.
Syracuse got three goals apiece from attackman Casey Donegan and All-America midfielders Dom Fin and Roy Colsey and had the edge in goal with Rosier, who made 23 saves to Ireland's 12.
"I don't mean to be blase about this," Starsia said, "but I don't think we played well for a long time in this game. I was actually thinking about what I was going to say to the media about [Ireland]."
Simmons, whose teams have won four national championships since 1988, said Virginia seemed to win over the neutral fans "who wanted to see David slay the Philistine," but he was mostly complimentary.
"Give almost any coach his pick of another team's players and he'll go to Charlottesville," Simmons said. "I think they'll [the Cavaliers] be a force to be reckoned with for a long time." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB