May 24, 2008

by Paul Ohanian, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.- Last week, Virginia defeated Maryland on senior Ben Rubeor's overtime goal to earn a spot in Saturday's NCAA semifinal against Syracuse. The euphoria of victory was still abundant during the post-game interviews nearly 30 minutes following that game.

This week, Virginia had to face the other end of the emotional spectrum. Mike Leveille's fifth goal of the game with 1:43 remaining in the second overtime lifted Syracuse to a 12-11 come-from-behind victory, as the Orange rallied from a five-goal third quarter deficit.

In the blink of an eye and a ping of the pipe, Virginia's season was over, and with it, the careers of seniors.

"Winning and losing, the difference is inches," said Rubeor. "We had some shots that just missed or hit the pipe. It's tough to go out that way. That's sports."

Rubeor nearly emerged as the hero for the second straight week, but this time, the inches did not fall in his favor. His shot from eight yards out on the left wing in the second overtime hit the outside of the left pipe and caromed out-of-bounds. Afterwards, he took much of the blame for the loss on his own shoulders.

"Sometimes you have to make sure you're on cage, especially in overtime," Rubeor said. "I like the ball on my stick, but at the same time, I don't feel like I played very well today."

Virginia had been 4-0 in overtime this season. Despite surrendering the lead in regulation, Rubeor said confidence was high as sudden death began.

"I thought we were pretty calm and confident in overtime, but it's one of those things where one shot can end it in overtime," Rubeor said.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia had no magic words to ease the pain for his team in the post-game locker room.

"It's hard to know what to say when things end so abruptly like that," Starsia said. "I thought both teams made plays late in the game and in the overtime, and we happened to not put the ball in the back of the net and they did."

Virginia led 6-3 at halftime and by five goals midway through the third quarter. The Cavaliers lost for the first time in nine games this year in which they led at halftime.

"I just told the team that these wins and losses sometimes can be quite fickle," said Starsia.