True to form of the Virginia-Syracuse series, it took overtime to decide the 29th all-time meeting, as the No. 6 Cavaliers (4-1) lost for the first time this season, falling inside the Carrier Dome on Friday night to the No. 18 Orange (2-1), 9-8.
Mick Parks won the faceoff to start the overtime period, his 16th win in 21 attempts on the night. Matt White attempted a shot, but the shot was saved by Syracuse goalie Bobby Wardwell, starting the Orange offensive possession.
After a timeout, Dylan Donahue found Kevin Rice who slipped the ball past UVa goalie Dan Marino with 1:00 left in the first overtime. The shot threaded the needle to send Syracuse to the thrilling win. It’s the first overtime loss for Virginia since falling to Johns Hopkins at Klöckner Stadium last season.
“Talking with Coach [Marc] Van Arsdale earlier in the week, we discussed this could be a very low-scoring Virginia-Syracuse lacrosse game,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “We certainly felt ahead of time that 10 goals could win the game. I thought we battled, we have played a lot of lacrosse – we played Tuesday night. I thought we battled, but had too many mistakes and gave away too many opportunities, too many chances and didn’t get to play enough on the offensive side of the field.”
The Cavaliers made the most of their first two offensive possessions, both of which came on extra-man opportunities. Mark Cockerton quickly scored the extra-man goal at 12:58 to give UVa the early 1-0 lead. After UVa won the ensuring faceoff on a Syracuse violation, Chris Daddio of Syracuse committed a slash, giving UVa a second consecutive man-up opportunity. Matt White quickly found Rob Emery at 11:19 to push UVa’s lead to two goals, 2-0.
Syracuse came roaring back, scoring four unanswered, taking a 4-2 lead. Luke Cometti started the run, followed by Henry Schoonmaker, JoJo Marasco and Derek Maltz capped the run at 3:41 in the first quarter. All four goals were unassisted.
Virginia quickly answered, going on a 4-0 run of its own, taking a 6-4 lead into the intermission. The spurt started when an Owen Van Arsdale’s pass was batted down and picked up by Cockerton in front of the crease. The junior deposited the ball in the goal for his second score of the game.
Emery started the second quarter scoring heading right down the middle on a dodge and scoring his second goal of the game at 4:46 in the second, tying the game at 4-4. Ryan Tucker gave UVa the lead back at 2:23 when he scored unassisted off a dodge. Van Arsdale in mid-check delivered the run-capping score with 4.3 seconds left before the break.
Syracuse’s defense held court in the third period, shutting out UVa while its offense ran three straight goals to take a 7-6 lead into the final stanza. Matt Harris started the run in an unsettled situation at 12:52, followed by Marasco’s second of the game on a bouncer from 20-yards out. Dylan Donahue capped the run with 11.7 seconds left in the period on a pass from Scott Loy.
Syracuse scored its fourth goal in a row to start the fourth quarter on a Matt Pratt tally, extending the Orange’s lead to two goals, 8-6.
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Chris Graham
