Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 30, 1994 TAG: 9405300027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: Medium
In 1992, when Jim Adams suddenly announced his retirement as coach at Virginia, Princeton coach Bill Tierney was among those interviewed, along with then-Brown coach Dom Starsia.
Tierney had just taken the Tigers to the Division I championship, but it would have been difficult for UVa to match the financial deal he had at Princeton, not that Starsia wasn't the Cavaliers' choice from the start.
UVa hasn't had any regrets, particularly after a 15-14 overtime victory over top-seeded Syracuse in a semifinal Saturday at Maryland's Byrd Stadium.
A crowd of 23,728 - largest to witness an NCAA final four session in any sport this year - watched the Cavaliers rally from a five-goal deficit in the fourth quarter.
"We made some mistakes and there were some opportunities for us to decide that we couldn't do it anymore, but we hung in there," Starsia said. "Most of the kids stepped up."
Virginia's only NCAA men's lacrosse title was in 1972, when the Cavaliers beat Johns Hopkins 13-12 in overtime at Byrd Stadium. In its only other trips to the final, UVa lost overtime games in 1980 and '86.
Remarkably, before Princeton won the title in 1992, three schools - Syracuse, Johns Hopkins and North Carolina - had accounted for 14 consecutive championships. Syracuse won again last season.
Princeton, trying to become the first school to win NCAA men's and women's lacrosse championships in the same year, has gained a place among the nation's elite that has coincided with the arrival of goalie Scott Bacigalupo. Princeton has a 50-8 record with Bacigalupo in goal the past four seasons and he is a two-time Division I goalie of the year. His current 69.0 save percentage is the best of his career.
Second-seeded Princeton avenged its only loss by beating Brown 10-7 in a semifinal Saturday, and at noon the Tigers (13-1) will meet a Virginia team they trounced 14-6 during the regular season.
It was one of two eight-goal losses for fifth-seeded UVa, which lost to North Carolina 15-7 in the ACC Tournament final but came back to beat the Tar Heels 12-10 in an NCAA quarterfinal.
Virginia (13-3) has not lost away from Charlottesville all season, although that streak clearly was in jeopardy Saturday when Syracuse twice stretched its lead to five - at 8-3 and 12-7.
"All the possibilities run through your mind all the time," Starsia said. "I'm even thinking about what I'm going to tell you guys sometimes: `James [Ireland] played well, he didn't play well. He played great, he didn't play great.' "
Ireland, the Cavaliers' goateed goalkeeper, didn't have a save as Syracuse raced to a 5-1 lead and has given up more goals (61) than he has saves (60) in the past six games.
"In a situation like this, the seniors are not a lot different from the freshmen," Starsia said. "It's the first time through for all of us.
"I thought James took a silly foul and I started the fourth quarter with Court Durling. Maybe the time off got [Ireland] settled down a little bit. He was better late in the game."
UVa outshot the Orangemen 56-36 and got big production out of attackmen Tim Whiteley and Mike Watson, who come from the same high school program (St. Paul's in Baltimore) that sent Bacigalupo to Princeton.
Watson, a freshman, scored the winner on his third goal of the game with 2 minutes, 10 seconds left in overtime. Whiteley, a sophomore, had two goals and five assists and moved into third place on UVa's single-season points list with 67.
Dave Klarmann, North Carolina's coach, has attributed UVa's late-season emergence to a large senior class, but the Cavaliers' top eight scorers will be back next season.
On the other hand, UVa loses Ireland and two of its top three defensemen. Also departing will be specialist Woody Moore, hailed by Starsia as the top short-stick defensive midfielder in the country.
"I can remember two years ago, when we didn't even make the playoffs, but that doesn't make you want it any less," Moore said. "These freshmen all have three years left, but there aren't too many opportunities like this."
by CNB