ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 22, 1996 TAG: 9604230168
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
THE CAVALIERS FALL to North Carolina 13-11 in the ACC tournament title game.
When first asked, coach Dave Klarmann couldn't find anything to distinguish North Carolina's seventh title victory in eight ACC men's lacrosse tournaments.
``I don't think that deeply,'' Klarmann said. ``I just wish Kevin Reichardt were here. If I have a thought that permeates my consciousness and comes out of nowhere sometimes, that's it.''
So, maybe there was something special about it.
Reichardt, a midfielder on Carolina's last ACC championship team in 1994, would have been a junior this year if he had not been murdered Jan.26, 1995, while riding his bicycle to lacrosse practice.
``You're always thinking, `This is something Kevin Reichardt is sharing,''' Klarmann said after the Tar Heels' 13-11 victory over host Virginia on Sunday. ``We didn't do the job last year without him. This year, maybe he was with us more.''
The Tar Heels, beaten by Duke 14-6 in the 1995 championship game, rallied from an early four-goal deficit to win their eighth championship in the past nine. That includes one year before the tournament format was adopted in 1989.
Virginia has had the best record in regular-season ACC play (15-9) the past eight years, but the Cavaliers had reached the championship game only three times before Sunday. They advanced to the final this year by beating No.1-ranked Maryland 13-9 in the semifinals.
The Tar Heels trounced Duke 18-8, but it was a costly loss for fourth-ranked Carolina, which lost junior attackman and leading scorer Merrill Turnbull, who suffered a broken leg and may be sidelined for the remainder of the season.
Virginia jumped on Carolina early, scoring four goals in the first 4:50, and led 6-2 before the Tar Heels' Brendan Carey scored with one second remaining in the first quarter. When Carolina took the second-quarter face-off and needed only 10 seconds to score again, it was a game.
The Tar Heels (12-3) forced a 7-7 halftime tie, then stretched their lead to 10-7 as third-ranked Virginia (9-3) went more than 25 minutes without a goal against Carolina's zone defense.
``With 50 minutes left in the game you can't get too caught up in the score,'' Klarmann said. ``We had to go to a zone. Those guys are too good to play man-to-man. Anybody who wants to play Virginia man-to-man, good luck. No way.''
The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 11-9 on Doug Knight's fourth goal of the game with eight seconds left in the third quarter, but Knight collided with UNC defenseman Peter Murphy with 13:37 remaining and did not play again.
David Curry moved from midfield to attack to replace Knight, who left the field with an injured left shoulder, and scored his third goal of the game to make it 11-10 with 9:21 remaining. However, the Cavaliers never got any closer.
``I'm a fan of the ACC tournament,'' said UVa coach Dom Starsia, who is 9-3 in regular-season ACC play and 2-4 in the tournament. ``All we can do is keep practicing and playing hard and our time is going to come.
``I don't think there's any mystery to it. I never thought we were going to blow these guys off the field. I thought we were ready to play. We didn't fall asleep. We just got beat by a better team than us today.''
And, a better goalie. Brooks Brown stopped eight shots in the fourth quarter, several when Virginia had a chance to tie, and was named most valuable player after recording 19 saves in all.
Brown once roomed with Reichardt, who was one of two people shot and killed by Wendell Williamson, a third-year UNC law student. Williamson was found not guilty in the fall by reason of insanity and remains hospitalized.
``Maybe last year we tried too hard to play for'' Reichardt, Klarmann said. ``We're carrying Kevin's loss a lot better now, but it's still a part of who we are.
``It's not going to fade until the class Kevin came in with graduates. Then, I'll know he wouldn't be here anymore. But, until they graduate, it's going to be hard not to think he should be out there.''
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. North Carolina midfielder Mike Maier looks to passby CNBas Virginia's Chris Ginter defends Sunday during the ACC men's
lacrosse tournament title game in Charlottesville.