'Cuse's Cavalieri Shines, If Only for a Day
by Steven Russolillo |
Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | NCAA Quarterfinals Blog
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Syracuse goalie Al Cavalieri, making his first career start in place of ill John Galloway, made 14 saves to lead the Orange to an 11-6 win over Maryland in the NCAA Division I quarterfinals Saturday at Hofstra. © Lee Weissman |
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Syracuse backup goalie Al
Cavalieri knew when he woke up this morning that today had the
potential to be the shining moment of his lacrosse career.
So when the opportunity presented itself, he surely didn't
disappoint. In fact, he shined in the bright lights and helped lead
Syracuse back to the final four and continue its quest for its 11th
NCAA men's lacrosse championship.
Cavalieri, a junior who serves as sophomore goalie John Galloway's
understudy, got the start in today's NCAA quarterfinal matchup
against Maryland because Galloway was suffering from flu-like
symptoms. Galloway came out for warm-ups and tried to play, but
when it was determined he was too sick to play, Cavalieri was given
the green light.
"I found out three minutes before the game that he wasn't going to
go and I just had to be ready," Cavalieri said.
He finished with 14 saves, including several nifty stops in the
first quarter and a highlight reel two-fer on Grant Catalino in the
fourth to help lead Syracuse to an 11-6 victory over the Terps.
"It was exciting. I just told myself to just stay calm because you
can have a tendency to get too excited out there," Cavalieri said.
"I knew I had a great defense in front of me and they would do a
good job."
The Orange gave Cavalieri some early breathing room as Kenny Nims,
Josh Amidon and Dan Hardy scored early goals to give Syracuse a 3-0
first-quarter lead. That early advantage helped Cavalieri settle
down and gain his composure.
"It was exciting, nerve-racking," Cavalieri said. "The first shot
they had, I think they rushed it a little bit and it was right at
my stick. That was just a good confidence builder. And I just knew
that the guys on defense we have are so good. I knew they'd be
there to help me the whole game."
The Orange never trailed as it built a 5-3 halftime advantage and
led 6-4 late in the third quarter. The five minutes spanning the
end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth proved to be
the difference, as Syracuse scored five consecutive goals that
turned a 6-4 lead into a dominating 11-4 advantage.
"You've got to give [Cavalieri] credit," Maryland head coach Dave
Cottle said. "He came up with some big saves...The bottom line is
if you're going to beat Syracuse you have to score more than six
goals. We didn't."
Cavalieri, out of Detroit Country Day in Michigan, appeared in
only five games this season and recorded a little more than 60
minutes of action, 10 saves and a .667 save percentage. But his
effort on Saturday showed that years of prepping for his big moment
paid off.
"We work so hard for this," he said. "Everyone's always ready on
our team no matter if they're a starter or backup. I just got an
opportunity and having the team behind me and having the team that
we have, we got through it and got back to the final four."
Assuming Galloway feels better in the next week, he'll most likely
get the start in Foxboro against Sunday's Duke-Johns Hopkins
winner. But Saturday was Cavalieri's time to shine, and Syracuse
head coach John Desko said he was proud Cavalieri was able to reap
the benefits of all his hard work and determination throughout the
years of serving as a backup.
"It's something that every coach tells somebody like Alex how
important his position is. Sometimes those guys never get a chance
to show it," Desko said. "From a coaching standpoint, although you
don't want a player to get sick or hurt, for it to happen, and then
Alex to get the chance to perform, it kind of validates everything
that we've been talking about over the years."
