With just less than three minutes to play, Virginia had possession and plenty of time left to erase Syracuse’s two-goal lead. But the SU defense wasn’t about to let that happen.

Virginia midfielder Shamel Bratton chased down an errant pass near midfield and turned to start the attack — and possibly the comeback. But as he looked up to survey the field, Orange midfielder Tim Harder came careening toward him. Harder slid at Bratton’s feet first and whacked the ball free. It flew out of bounds, returning possession to SU.

Harder hopped to his feet and gave an emphatic fist pump as the Carrier Dome crowd roared.

Two and a half minutes later, Harder and No. 1 Syracuse pulled out a 12-10 win over No. 2 Virginia in front of 14,340 fans, the fourth-largest regular-season crowd for a lacrosse game in Carrier Dome history. With emotions running high throughout, the Orange (3-0) defense stifled the Cavaliers’ attack in the second half, holding them to just two scores and five shots on goal. And that helped SU grab its first regular-season win over the Cavaliers (4-1) since 2004.

‘I think that our defense stepped up,’ senior long-stick midfielder Joel White said. ‘Our defense made some stops when we needed. We had a couple hustle plays at the end of the game to give us the ball back, and our offense did the rest.’

The game was originally a fast-paced, offensive battle. Bratton tallied Virginia’s first score a little more than two minutes in, but Syracuse responded just 18 seconds later. After a false start by the Cavaliers on the ensuing faceoff, SU attack Tim Desko got free behind the net after a pick by sophomore JoJo Marasco and buried a shot for the first of his five goals on the night.

The game continued to swing back and forth throughout the first half. SU took a 5-2 lead with 2:55 left in the first quarter and pulled ahead 7-4 early in the second. But Virginia answered with four straight goals to take an 8-7 advantage into the break.

‘We really didn’t expect anything else,’ Orange head coach John Desko said. ‘It was a run-and-gun, up-and-down game against the Cavaliers. … Virginia showed their character and some composure and came back in the second quarter.’

In the second half, that run-and-gun style turned into a defensive battle. The pace didn’t slow, but possessions for both teams started ending in saves or turnovers rather than goals.

SU shut down the Virginia offense for nearly the whole third quarter. Their only score came on a rocket shot from Bratton with 5:46 left in the period. Other than that, the Cavaliers only mustered two shots on goal, both of which were turned back by Orange goaltender John Galloway.

‘That’s an experienced defense team,’ Virginia head coach Dom Starsia said. ‘They probably felt like they had given in a little bit in the first half. … I thought they came out and tightened things down a little bit and probably showed their experience at that end of the field.’

Virginia had a chance to spark its offense as it started the fourth quarter a man-up chance and possession. As the Cavaliers began cycling the ball around, SU senior defender Tom Guadagnolo deflected a pass on the left side but couldn’t get to the groundball. UVa continued its movement around the zone.

Cavalier attack Matt White got the ball behind the net and tried to pass in front. But again, Guadagnolo was there for a deflection, and this time, it popped right into Galloway’s stick.

The Orange cleared, and Guadagnolo received congratulatory fist bumps from Galloway and sophomore Brian Megill as the Orange’s penalty released.

‘As a whole defense, I think we played great,’ White said. ‘We got loose balls and just hustled.’

While Virginia struggled to score, Tim Desko helped SU build a 12-9 lead with three second-half goals. Bratton was able to pull the Cavaliers within two with his fourth goal at the 2:55 mark. But Harder’s sliding stick check shortly afterward all but sealed the win for the Orange.

‘As a team, I think it’s just a great step for us, a step forward,’ White said. ‘I think we have a long way to go, myself included, with one-on-one ‘D’ and our middies have to get better on defense. I think it’s just a great step.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on March 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm